Hi everyone!
Well I just left Hawaii, my final port before being home. This will be my last blog for my trip around the world. I will get to San Diego in about 6 days, and I must say that I am very excited!
I was only in Hawaii for about 12 hours, but I had a really great time. I had been there before, so I didn’t have to worry about seeing all of the touristy stuff like Pearl Harbor, or the Polynesian center. I was able to just spend my time relaxing!!
The currency in Hawaii is ……….haha, just kidding-it’s the US dollar!
We got off of the ship at about 9 am, and decided to head to a little restaurant that a friend of ours had recommended….Cheeseburger in Paradise! We ordered our food and the waiter brought out water for everyone. On the ship our drinking water is usually kind of salty, or tastes like chlorine, so this water was the most delicious water I have ever had….I honestly drank about 3 glasses! I think that I am probably dehydrated, and just don’t know it. We ate some really good burgers and I found myself feeling really excited to be back home….It is nice being able to eat something without having to take some precautionary pepto! I was feeling really excited until I got my bill and realized that I had just spent $16 on a burger and fries….quite the change from India, where we could get a full meal for $2!
After our meal, we headed over to the beach, we picked a spot on Waikiki beach….a really touristy area, but it was nice. The weather was kind of weird in the morning….it would rain, and then it would be really sunny, and then it would rain again….etc. The afternoon was a lot nicer and stayed pretty sunny!
We spent our day laying in the sun and swimming in the ocean….the water was warm and really clear. Hawaii is just beautiful! We finally began packing up at about 6pm. We decided to grab some dinner before heading back to the ship. We walked around for a while, and finally decided to eat at this little Mexican restaurant called La Cucaracha… I was kind of skeptical about eating at a restaurant called that after all of the cucarachas I encountered in Vietnam, but we decided to give it a go… Name aside, the food was really good, and it made me really homesick…..I can’t wait to be home where I can eat Torres and enjoy chips and salsa on the regular!! Yummy!
After dinner, we caught a ride back to the ship with a friend of a friend who lived in Honolulu. She dropped us off and as we boarded the ship for the last time, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit sad. I’ve become so use to the procedures on the ship, and couldn’t help wondering how I am going to feel when I get home, knowing that I am never going to have to follow these procedures again….not being able to bring alcohol on board (even though I am of legal drinking age), making sure that I am on the ship by on-ship time, making sure that I’ve emptied out any opened bottles of water or juice that I have and no more look furiously though my purse for my ship ID card so that I can board.
Throughout my day, I found myself surprised by how unaccustomed I have become to American culture and procedure. I was taken back when I was asked to show my ID at a convenience store when I tried to purchase a souvenir cigar. Everywhere I’ve been over the past 3 months hasn’t really had a strict age restriction on tobacco or alcohol. Even on the ship, the legal drinking age at sea is 18! I felt like everybody was so loud (completely different from the quiet nature practiced in Japan), nude (completely different from the way that people are in India, where women wear long dresses even to the beach) and fat (different from pretty much all of the rest of the world), we over eat, over drink, and over spend like crazy…….
I found myself furiously hating my cell phone after receiving two calls from solicitors in a matter of about 2 hours. As soon as our ship docked in Hawaii, I was surprised at how hard I had to look for a place to talk in private as almost every single person on the ship was talking on their cell phone. I had gotten so use to not really having mine and to not really seeing them around. It was interesting to see how quickly we resorted back to our old cell phone practices though. Throughout the day, our phones were ringing off the hook and text messages were abundant. I guess this is just a small taste of some of the things that I am going to have to get use to again.
I am really excited to be coming home….I really miss you all! I know I’ve missed out on a lot and I can’t wait to share all the things I’ve learned and experienced!
Love you all,
V
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Japan
Hello Everyone,
I just got back from Japan, my last and final international port, and am on my way home!!!
The currency in Japan is the Yen, and the exchange rate is about 118 yen = $1. This wasn’t too difficult to figure out, but there are a lot of coins in this currency. 100 yen (about 1 dollar) is a coin about the size of a nickel and was the most common. It was especially helpful when paying for the various trains that get you from one place to another. Japan is a very clean place and very expensive…..I did the least amount of shopping here, and it still ended up being my 2nd or 3rd most expensive port.
I really noticed good parent/child relationships in Japan. It seemed like everyone really liked their babies. I had a lot of fun “people watching” here because of all of the children….Japanese babies are really cute! The children all wear school uniforms with hats and blazers. The rest of Japan was really high fashion….every girl that I saw was wearing stiletto shoes, and you could tell that some of them were more experienced than others in the shoe department, as many walked funny and looked like they’re feet were killing them. One would think that I would be a squattie pottie pro by now, but I still have some issues…….in Japan, there are many western style toilets, but when I encountered a squattie, they had little steps which made them a lot easier to use….I called them training squatties….
On day 1, we were welcomed to Kobe port by some taiko drummers who boarded the ship and put on a show for us in the Union. When we finally got off of the ship, we decided to head over to the main part of Kobe. We had to take a tram to get there and it was 200 yen each way. We made it to the center of Kobe, and decided to walk around the huge shopping mall for a while. We didn’t do much shopping, but had fun looking at the different styles that are popular in Japan. After a while, we found ourselves a 350 (a restaurant where everything on the menu costs 350 yen…) I had some fried rice and sushi. This was by far the best sushi that I had in all of my life….it was really, really good! We had some good ice cream and then headed back to the ship…we had to ride that tram again so I spent another 200 yen. We got ready and decided to head out to some local bars and clubs. We found a few that some of the other SAS kids were going to and decided to tag along. On the way to the bars, we passed a pet store and got to look at some of the cutest puppies of all time…. I was so happy! We had a few drinks and did some dancing. After a while, we decided to leave and go and eat some Mc Donalds.
The next day, our friend Bob (who participated in the MASP program with us at CU and now works as a teacher in Japan) met us at the ship and offered to show us around. We all decided to head over to Osaka to see the city. We got to walk around and look at all of the various sights. We walked around the Dotonbori area and the Sinsibashi area too. This was really fun, and in the evening the city would light up and it reminded me of New York a little bit. We stopped in at a little restraint that served conveyer belt sushi…this was a lot of fun. I also got to eat some delicious strawberry shortcake. Japan has some of the most amazing desserts I have ever seen. We visited the Hello Kitty store and I made a few small purchases….everything hello kitty is super expensive! We stopped in an arcade and took some silly Japanese pictures in a photo booth. They were fun! We had to find our own way back to Kobe, so Bob did his best to give us directions and we headed back on our own. We were a little confused at first, but we finally made it back safely. We decided to get some sleep because we had a busy third day planned.
On day 3 we woke up and headed over to Nara, a city in Japan famous for its temples and deer. The group (with the exception of Age and Greg who were doing home stays) took the trains again and spent about 30 dollars traveling. We met Bob in Nara and he had some of his Japanese friends with him so they helped us navigate around. I was really excited to see all of the deer present in Nara, even though some of them looked pretty mangy. I got to pet one and take lots of pics. After seeing the deer and the Todaji Temple, we went to grab a bite to eat at this little restaurant. The woman who worked there didn’t speak a word of English and so we had to go outside and point at the food we wanted from a display in the window. There was another man in the restaurant who came over to us after we had ordered and began yelling things at us…I think he was really sick, and drunk. He kept on covering his mouth with a towel that he had around his neck while he was talking and yelling and coughing. It was kind of weird. Later on, someone said that they think he was missing part of his tongue! We decided it was time to head back to Kobe and so we took the train home. We decided to go bowling when we got back and so after a quick Mc Donalds stop, we headed over to this huge arcade and got to bowl. Our shoes were dispensed from this huge machine that worked like a vending machine….we typed in our size, and out they fell. It was really neat. We bowled the fastest game of all time and then we got to dress up as bowling pins (they had a costume we could put on and take pic’s in). After bowling we went back to the ship and slept.
Day 4 we woke up early and headed once again to Osaka. Once we got to the Osaka train station also called (OCAT), we were able to watch some break dancing girls who couldn’t have been more than 10. They were really good! We had originally planned on going to a baseball game. We tried to go to the convenience store to purchase tickets, but had a great deal of trouble communicating. We finally figured out that we needed to head over to the baseball dome to buy our tickets. After buying our tickets, we got some souvineer shirts and took pics with the mascots. We saw the Orix Buffalos vs. the Soft Bank Hawks and since we are buffs fans anyway, we decided to cheer for them. The game was a lot of fun, we ended up sitting next to this huge group of students who had these really loud noise makers. Instead of a 7th inning stretch, huge balloons were passed out and special songs were sung for each team. Once the song was over, the crowd let the balloons (which had been blown up) go and they went everywhere! it was really cool to see! After the game, we headed back to that Dotonbori area and rode on this giant Ferris wheel. We had a lot of fun. We met back up with Bob and had some dinner at a 280, which is even better than a 350! I found a pink umbrella on the street and got to keep it as a prize, so I was really excited-even though it didn’t rain! We went to this little night club with a pretty decent DJ. The club had videos playing over a large screen and as we stood there dancing on our last night in a foreign country in our last port, video footage from Brazil (our first international port) began playing. It was really fitting, and kind of sad. We had decided that we were going to stay out all night because the trains stop running at midnight and don’t start until 5am. We headed over to Bob’s to do some Karaoke and use his internet. We left at 5 am and headed back to the ship. After sleeping in, we took one last stroll around Kobe and had the 350 sushi again. We purchased some art….kind of….from this cool cat on the street. He was an artist who wrote our names and inspirational messages in Japanese…they’re pretty neat! We came back to the ship and as we left the port of Kobe, we were able to see some bioluminescence in the ocean…there were shimmering neon blue particles that were glowing in the water as we left….it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
So here I am, heading home after spending nearly 100 days traveling the world. I have had such an incredible time and am so grateful for the thoughts and prayers that I’ve received during my time away. This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I am so excited to share my stories and photos with all of you! I’m looking forward to coming home and catching up. I love and miss you all….see you in less than 2 weeks!
~Valerie
I just got back from Japan, my last and final international port, and am on my way home!!!
The currency in Japan is the Yen, and the exchange rate is about 118 yen = $1. This wasn’t too difficult to figure out, but there are a lot of coins in this currency. 100 yen (about 1 dollar) is a coin about the size of a nickel and was the most common. It was especially helpful when paying for the various trains that get you from one place to another. Japan is a very clean place and very expensive…..I did the least amount of shopping here, and it still ended up being my 2nd or 3rd most expensive port.
I really noticed good parent/child relationships in Japan. It seemed like everyone really liked their babies. I had a lot of fun “people watching” here because of all of the children….Japanese babies are really cute! The children all wear school uniforms with hats and blazers. The rest of Japan was really high fashion….every girl that I saw was wearing stiletto shoes, and you could tell that some of them were more experienced than others in the shoe department, as many walked funny and looked like they’re feet were killing them. One would think that I would be a squattie pottie pro by now, but I still have some issues…….in Japan, there are many western style toilets, but when I encountered a squattie, they had little steps which made them a lot easier to use….I called them training squatties….
On day 1, we were welcomed to Kobe port by some taiko drummers who boarded the ship and put on a show for us in the Union. When we finally got off of the ship, we decided to head over to the main part of Kobe. We had to take a tram to get there and it was 200 yen each way. We made it to the center of Kobe, and decided to walk around the huge shopping mall for a while. We didn’t do much shopping, but had fun looking at the different styles that are popular in Japan. After a while, we found ourselves a 350 (a restaurant where everything on the menu costs 350 yen…) I had some fried rice and sushi. This was by far the best sushi that I had in all of my life….it was really, really good! We had some good ice cream and then headed back to the ship…we had to ride that tram again so I spent another 200 yen. We got ready and decided to head out to some local bars and clubs. We found a few that some of the other SAS kids were going to and decided to tag along. On the way to the bars, we passed a pet store and got to look at some of the cutest puppies of all time…. I was so happy! We had a few drinks and did some dancing. After a while, we decided to leave and go and eat some Mc Donalds.
The next day, our friend Bob (who participated in the MASP program with us at CU and now works as a teacher in Japan) met us at the ship and offered to show us around. We all decided to head over to Osaka to see the city. We got to walk around and look at all of the various sights. We walked around the Dotonbori area and the Sinsibashi area too. This was really fun, and in the evening the city would light up and it reminded me of New York a little bit. We stopped in at a little restraint that served conveyer belt sushi…this was a lot of fun. I also got to eat some delicious strawberry shortcake. Japan has some of the most amazing desserts I have ever seen. We visited the Hello Kitty store and I made a few small purchases….everything hello kitty is super expensive! We stopped in an arcade and took some silly Japanese pictures in a photo booth. They were fun! We had to find our own way back to Kobe, so Bob did his best to give us directions and we headed back on our own. We were a little confused at first, but we finally made it back safely. We decided to get some sleep because we had a busy third day planned.
On day 3 we woke up and headed over to Nara, a city in Japan famous for its temples and deer. The group (with the exception of Age and Greg who were doing home stays) took the trains again and spent about 30 dollars traveling. We met Bob in Nara and he had some of his Japanese friends with him so they helped us navigate around. I was really excited to see all of the deer present in Nara, even though some of them looked pretty mangy. I got to pet one and take lots of pics. After seeing the deer and the Todaji Temple, we went to grab a bite to eat at this little restaurant. The woman who worked there didn’t speak a word of English and so we had to go outside and point at the food we wanted from a display in the window. There was another man in the restaurant who came over to us after we had ordered and began yelling things at us…I think he was really sick, and drunk. He kept on covering his mouth with a towel that he had around his neck while he was talking and yelling and coughing. It was kind of weird. Later on, someone said that they think he was missing part of his tongue! We decided it was time to head back to Kobe and so we took the train home. We decided to go bowling when we got back and so after a quick Mc Donalds stop, we headed over to this huge arcade and got to bowl. Our shoes were dispensed from this huge machine that worked like a vending machine….we typed in our size, and out they fell. It was really neat. We bowled the fastest game of all time and then we got to dress up as bowling pins (they had a costume we could put on and take pic’s in). After bowling we went back to the ship and slept.
Day 4 we woke up early and headed once again to Osaka. Once we got to the Osaka train station also called (OCAT), we were able to watch some break dancing girls who couldn’t have been more than 10. They were really good! We had originally planned on going to a baseball game. We tried to go to the convenience store to purchase tickets, but had a great deal of trouble communicating. We finally figured out that we needed to head over to the baseball dome to buy our tickets. After buying our tickets, we got some souvineer shirts and took pics with the mascots. We saw the Orix Buffalos vs. the Soft Bank Hawks and since we are buffs fans anyway, we decided to cheer for them. The game was a lot of fun, we ended up sitting next to this huge group of students who had these really loud noise makers. Instead of a 7th inning stretch, huge balloons were passed out and special songs were sung for each team. Once the song was over, the crowd let the balloons (which had been blown up) go and they went everywhere! it was really cool to see! After the game, we headed back to that Dotonbori area and rode on this giant Ferris wheel. We had a lot of fun. We met back up with Bob and had some dinner at a 280, which is even better than a 350! I found a pink umbrella on the street and got to keep it as a prize, so I was really excited-even though it didn’t rain! We went to this little night club with a pretty decent DJ. The club had videos playing over a large screen and as we stood there dancing on our last night in a foreign country in our last port, video footage from Brazil (our first international port) began playing. It was really fitting, and kind of sad. We had decided that we were going to stay out all night because the trains stop running at midnight and don’t start until 5am. We headed over to Bob’s to do some Karaoke and use his internet. We left at 5 am and headed back to the ship. After sleeping in, we took one last stroll around Kobe and had the 350 sushi again. We purchased some art….kind of….from this cool cat on the street. He was an artist who wrote our names and inspirational messages in Japanese…they’re pretty neat! We came back to the ship and as we left the port of Kobe, we were able to see some bioluminescence in the ocean…there were shimmering neon blue particles that were glowing in the water as we left….it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
So here I am, heading home after spending nearly 100 days traveling the world. I have had such an incredible time and am so grateful for the thoughts and prayers that I’ve received during my time away. This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and I am so excited to share my stories and photos with all of you! I’m looking forward to coming home and catching up. I love and miss you all….see you in less than 2 weeks!
~Valerie
Monday, April 23, 2007
Hong Kong / China
Hello everyone, or should I say “Nｉ Hａｏ ｍａ”!
I just got back from China! Over the past 6 days I was able to spend one day in Hong Kong, four days in Beijing and one day in Qingdao. I had a really good time and was able to see pretty much all of the “touristy” sights!
Hong Kong was great, the hong kong dollar is really pretty it’s pink and purple and the exchange rate is about 7.8 hong kong dollars= $1. Beijing and the rest of China operates on the Yuan, and the exchange rate is about the same…(it might be about 7.6 Yuan to the $1).
On our first day in Hong Kong, we decided to split up because Celina and I wanted to shop and the others didn’t! Celina and I had no idea where we were going, but we hopped into a cab with a driver who didn’t speak one word of English and pointed to a location on the map that we thought was a market. He started driving and after a while we began to notice that the meter was moving pretty quickly….we finally came to a stop and ended up paying about 10 US dollars for a fare that should have been about ½ that! We got out of the cab and began looking around for the market. After a few minutes of walking around and asking different Asian people if we were in the right place (only to receive blank stares because none of them spoke a word of English) we found a blonde haired man who looked like he knew where he was going and asked him if he knew where the market was. He told us that we were about ½ hour away from where we needed to be and that our best option to get there would be to take the number 6 bus. Even though we knew nothing about where we were going we wandered around until we found the no. 6 bus stop where we met a red haired woman from Texas who had lived in Hong Kong for a while and told us that we were in the right place. We caught the bus which actually ended up being along a scenic route that allowed us see a lot of the city. Hong Kong is full of tall buildings and scurrying people. It was very exciting. I really liked it there a lot! Once we finally made it to the market we were able to do some shopping and mingle with a lot of people both locals and tourists. We found a Mc Donalds as well as a Starbucks. We decided to have some of both…..it’s been like 3 months since I’d had some Mc Donalds! I had a happy meal, and I’ve never enjoyed a burger so much in my life! When we were done with our shopping, burgers, and coffee, we headed back to where we had first caught the bus...(even though we didn’t exactly know where that was). We had made plans to meet up with the others to see a light show at the Hong Kong harbor at 8 pm. We began trying to figure out where exactly the harbor was and after asking numerous people for directions, only to be looked at with blank stares and confused looks, we were again forced to seek out anyone we could find with blonde hair. We finally found a man who stood out like a soar thumb and we asked him if he could help us. He told us that he had lived in Hong Kong for about 10 years and that in order to get to the light show we needed to take a subway train. He helped us find the subway, helped us buy our tickets and even showed us which train we needed to take…we thanked him for all of his help, before hoping on the train. I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to find the light show. It was really cool, the lights flashed to a musical soundtrack which was played over loud speakers behind us. The show kind of reminded me of the Vegas show that we always watch on the ceiling of that dome in the downtown area. We decided to head back to the ship, and no sooner did we get to our room, did we get a phone call telling us to get ready because we were going out. We took a taxi out to a strip of bars and clubs and eventually met up with the others. We had some drinks outside of the local 7-11 (where alcohol is sold at very affordable prices-unlike the prices at most of the bars) and ended up hanging out on the sidewalk outside of the bars for the majority of the evening. It sounds really strange and lame, but we had a good time….there were tons of SAS kids out and when we finally headed back to the ship, we were very ready for bed.
On day 2 I arose bright and early. I had signed up for a SAS Beijing trip, and my group was leaving at 7am! I ended up doing this trip on my own and was feeling kind of nervous because I didn’t really know anyone that was going with me. We headed toward the airport and boarded a 3 hour flight to Beijing. Once we had arrived, we immediately headed to the summer palace. The Summer palace served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, In December 1998, the Summer Palace was placed on the World Heritage List. It is declared as an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.
Next we headed to our hotel and checked in….I met my roommate (who wasn’t very nice), and then got ready for dinner. I had some authentic Peking Duck! It was kind of scary, but I guess it was ok considering I don’t really like duck very much. After dinner we went back to the hotel where I purchased some internet minutes, and then went back to my room to get some sleep.
Day 3 was really busy. We woke up bright and early and headed over to the Great Wall of China. The great wall was about 2 hours from our hotel so I took a little nap on the way over. There are several different sections of the wall, but we visited the Mutianyu section….which, in my opinion, is the best! The wall was built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. The Great Wall is one of the existing megastructures and the world's longest man-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles). We took (what reminded me of a ski lift) to the top of the wall and then spent about 45 minutes hiking along the wall. We stopped and ate some lunch (ewww tuna sandwich with extra mayo….which I definitely didn’t eat) and then headed back to where we started. The wall was really cool and I met a few girls that I ended up hanging out with and made them take my picture. The best part of the great wall was the way that we got down….There was a toboggan on the Great Wall that we could slide down. This was sooooo fun! Who would have thought that I would ever have been able to slide down the Great Wall of China!! I purchased a t shirt and then we headed back to the bus. Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is the grandest of the four great temples located in Beijing. The other prominent temples include the Temple of Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, which represent Heaven, and all of the temples are built without any type of screws or nails…they are all dove tailed meaning that they have been woven together…kind of cool, and definitely beautiful!
We then headed over to the silk market where we were able to get in some shopping before dinner. The market was great….there was every kind of knock off product known to man, and we also got to try our hand at some serious bargaining….I think that I am pretty good at doing this. I got a few bags/purses, and some pretend North Face jackets!! Dinner was on our own that evening, so I met up with the new friends that I’d made on the wall and we headed out to find a place to eat. We found a restaurant that looked really good, and sat down. None of the waiters spoke English, so we relied on pictures of different foods to help us order. I don’t know what we ate, but it was pretty good! After wards, we attempted to go out. I was running low on funds at this point, so I didn’t really have any drinks that evening, but we ended up having an ok time…
Day 4 we woke up early and headed to the Forbidden City which was the residence of the terrestrial Emperor. It is refered to as forbidden due to the fact that no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission. After that we went to the Tiananmen Square which is the largest open-urban square in the world with a total area of 440,000 square meters. The square has great cultural significance as it was the site of several key events in Chinese history. Outside of China, the square is widely known for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
After visiting Tiananmen, we had lunch at a restaurant that served food specific to a small tribe in China…the restaurant was called Afanti and the food was really good….it kind of reminded me of Indian food a little bit. We went to the Lama Temple where we were able to see the largest Buda in the world and then headed (once again) to the silk market where I broke down and ended up doing a little bit more shopping. We had a good traditional Chinese dinner and then headed to an Acrobatics show….this was my most favorite part of my entire China trip…it was soooo good, better than Cirque De Sole (spelling?)-but sort of similar. I have a ton of pics of the show and even took some video!
Our last day in Beijing consisted of visiting another temple/garden which included a scenic boat ride which was kind of fun, having a delicious lunch at a very modern Chinese restaurant….(this was my favorite meal that I had in Beijing) and then visiting the Beihai park. Beihei Park is a large public park that is especially popular among the older crowd. In China, the average individual retires at about age 45-50. After retirement, many of the people fill their days by playing at the park. Beihei park was full of people (both old and young) playing backgammon, hackie sack, dancing, ribbon twirling and playing instruments. I thought that this was one of the neatest and most interesting things that I observed because it is so different from what we would consider “elderly activity” in the states. Instead of sitting in front of a television in some elderly home rotting away, these grandmas and grandpas were outside playing. I really liked it here! Even though the park had a large elderly crowd, we also saw lots of children and babies. Many of the baby’s had slits in their pants (for easier access for potty purposes)…this was really prevalent all over china, but I especially noticed it at this park…I took a couple pictures of baby butts! It’s actually pretty funny!
Once we left the park, we hopped into some rickshaws and sped through the narrow streets of china taking in a lot of the scenery before stopping to visit a private home. The people in this house worked as paper cutters, and did some of the most intricate and beautiful paper cutting work that I have ever seen. We had dinner at a “Western style” buffet, and then headed to the airport to catch our plane to Qingdao where our ship was now docked. This was a really icky flight with lots of turbulence and I had to sit in a middle seat. Once we finally arrived at the ship I was exhausted….I checked in and went straight to sleep!
On the last day, my group of friends finally returned from their Beijing trip….they decided to take a train from Honk Kong to Beijing and then again from Beijing to Qingdao. In total, they spent about 32 hours on a train….yuck! We slept in and then headed out to see the sites in Qingdao. It wasn’t as fun as Hong Kong or Beijing, but we made the best of it….we ate at a really good Pizza Hut, and visited a Chinese Walmart before finally heading back to the ship. Over all, I had a really good time in China. There was a lot to do, and my trip was really busy. I thought overall that people were pretty friendly and I’m beginning to notice that people throughout the world are a lot more similar than we are different- someone even asked me if I was half Chinese….funny huh? I guess my eyes are a little bit squinty.
I have a busy two days ahead of me….We will be in Japan on the 25th. I’ve got lots of papers to do and am not feeling so hot….I’ve got a pretty bad cold (again) and the sea’s are kind of rough so I’m feeling a little sea sick! Lets hope for the best! I’ll see you all in about 3 weeks!
Love, Val
I just got back from China! Over the past 6 days I was able to spend one day in Hong Kong, four days in Beijing and one day in Qingdao. I had a really good time and was able to see pretty much all of the “touristy” sights!
Hong Kong was great, the hong kong dollar is really pretty it’s pink and purple and the exchange rate is about 7.8 hong kong dollars= $1. Beijing and the rest of China operates on the Yuan, and the exchange rate is about the same…(it might be about 7.6 Yuan to the $1).
On our first day in Hong Kong, we decided to split up because Celina and I wanted to shop and the others didn’t! Celina and I had no idea where we were going, but we hopped into a cab with a driver who didn’t speak one word of English and pointed to a location on the map that we thought was a market. He started driving and after a while we began to notice that the meter was moving pretty quickly….we finally came to a stop and ended up paying about 10 US dollars for a fare that should have been about ½ that! We got out of the cab and began looking around for the market. After a few minutes of walking around and asking different Asian people if we were in the right place (only to receive blank stares because none of them spoke a word of English) we found a blonde haired man who looked like he knew where he was going and asked him if he knew where the market was. He told us that we were about ½ hour away from where we needed to be and that our best option to get there would be to take the number 6 bus. Even though we knew nothing about where we were going we wandered around until we found the no. 6 bus stop where we met a red haired woman from Texas who had lived in Hong Kong for a while and told us that we were in the right place. We caught the bus which actually ended up being along a scenic route that allowed us see a lot of the city. Hong Kong is full of tall buildings and scurrying people. It was very exciting. I really liked it there a lot! Once we finally made it to the market we were able to do some shopping and mingle with a lot of people both locals and tourists. We found a Mc Donalds as well as a Starbucks. We decided to have some of both…..it’s been like 3 months since I’d had some Mc Donalds! I had a happy meal, and I’ve never enjoyed a burger so much in my life! When we were done with our shopping, burgers, and coffee, we headed back to where we had first caught the bus...(even though we didn’t exactly know where that was). We had made plans to meet up with the others to see a light show at the Hong Kong harbor at 8 pm. We began trying to figure out where exactly the harbor was and after asking numerous people for directions, only to be looked at with blank stares and confused looks, we were again forced to seek out anyone we could find with blonde hair. We finally found a man who stood out like a soar thumb and we asked him if he could help us. He told us that he had lived in Hong Kong for about 10 years and that in order to get to the light show we needed to take a subway train. He helped us find the subway, helped us buy our tickets and even showed us which train we needed to take…we thanked him for all of his help, before hoping on the train. I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to find the light show. It was really cool, the lights flashed to a musical soundtrack which was played over loud speakers behind us. The show kind of reminded me of the Vegas show that we always watch on the ceiling of that dome in the downtown area. We decided to head back to the ship, and no sooner did we get to our room, did we get a phone call telling us to get ready because we were going out. We took a taxi out to a strip of bars and clubs and eventually met up with the others. We had some drinks outside of the local 7-11 (where alcohol is sold at very affordable prices-unlike the prices at most of the bars) and ended up hanging out on the sidewalk outside of the bars for the majority of the evening. It sounds really strange and lame, but we had a good time….there were tons of SAS kids out and when we finally headed back to the ship, we were very ready for bed.
On day 2 I arose bright and early. I had signed up for a SAS Beijing trip, and my group was leaving at 7am! I ended up doing this trip on my own and was feeling kind of nervous because I didn’t really know anyone that was going with me. We headed toward the airport and boarded a 3 hour flight to Beijing. Once we had arrived, we immediately headed to the summer palace. The Summer palace served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, In December 1998, the Summer Palace was placed on the World Heritage List. It is declared as an "outstanding expression of the creative art of Chinese landscape garden design, incorporating the works of humankind and nature in a harmonious whole." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.
Next we headed to our hotel and checked in….I met my roommate (who wasn’t very nice), and then got ready for dinner. I had some authentic Peking Duck! It was kind of scary, but I guess it was ok considering I don’t really like duck very much. After dinner we went back to the hotel where I purchased some internet minutes, and then went back to my room to get some sleep.
Day 3 was really busy. We woke up bright and early and headed over to the Great Wall of China. The great wall was about 2 hours from our hotel so I took a little nap on the way over. There are several different sections of the wall, but we visited the Mutianyu section….which, in my opinion, is the best! The wall was built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. The Great Wall is one of the existing megastructures and the world's longest man-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles). We took (what reminded me of a ski lift) to the top of the wall and then spent about 45 minutes hiking along the wall. We stopped and ate some lunch (ewww tuna sandwich with extra mayo….which I definitely didn’t eat) and then headed back to where we started. The wall was really cool and I met a few girls that I ended up hanging out with and made them take my picture. The best part of the great wall was the way that we got down….There was a toboggan on the Great Wall that we could slide down. This was sooooo fun! Who would have thought that I would ever have been able to slide down the Great Wall of China!! I purchased a t shirt and then we headed back to the bus. Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is the grandest of the four great temples located in Beijing. The other prominent temples include the Temple of Sun in the east, the Temple of Earth in the north, and the Temple of Moon in the west. All the buildings within the Temple have special dark blue roof tiles, which represent Heaven, and all of the temples are built without any type of screws or nails…they are all dove tailed meaning that they have been woven together…kind of cool, and definitely beautiful!
We then headed over to the silk market where we were able to get in some shopping before dinner. The market was great….there was every kind of knock off product known to man, and we also got to try our hand at some serious bargaining….I think that I am pretty good at doing this. I got a few bags/purses, and some pretend North Face jackets!! Dinner was on our own that evening, so I met up with the new friends that I’d made on the wall and we headed out to find a place to eat. We found a restaurant that looked really good, and sat down. None of the waiters spoke English, so we relied on pictures of different foods to help us order. I don’t know what we ate, but it was pretty good! After wards, we attempted to go out. I was running low on funds at this point, so I didn’t really have any drinks that evening, but we ended up having an ok time…
Day 4 we woke up early and headed to the Forbidden City which was the residence of the terrestrial Emperor. It is refered to as forbidden due to the fact that no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission. After that we went to the Tiananmen Square which is the largest open-urban square in the world with a total area of 440,000 square meters. The square has great cultural significance as it was the site of several key events in Chinese history. Outside of China, the square is widely known for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
After visiting Tiananmen, we had lunch at a restaurant that served food specific to a small tribe in China…the restaurant was called Afanti and the food was really good….it kind of reminded me of Indian food a little bit. We went to the Lama Temple where we were able to see the largest Buda in the world and then headed (once again) to the silk market where I broke down and ended up doing a little bit more shopping. We had a good traditional Chinese dinner and then headed to an Acrobatics show….this was my most favorite part of my entire China trip…it was soooo good, better than Cirque De Sole (spelling?)-but sort of similar. I have a ton of pics of the show and even took some video!
Our last day in Beijing consisted of visiting another temple/garden which included a scenic boat ride which was kind of fun, having a delicious lunch at a very modern Chinese restaurant….(this was my favorite meal that I had in Beijing) and then visiting the Beihai park. Beihei Park is a large public park that is especially popular among the older crowd. In China, the average individual retires at about age 45-50. After retirement, many of the people fill their days by playing at the park. Beihei park was full of people (both old and young) playing backgammon, hackie sack, dancing, ribbon twirling and playing instruments. I thought that this was one of the neatest and most interesting things that I observed because it is so different from what we would consider “elderly activity” in the states. Instead of sitting in front of a television in some elderly home rotting away, these grandmas and grandpas were outside playing. I really liked it here! Even though the park had a large elderly crowd, we also saw lots of children and babies. Many of the baby’s had slits in their pants (for easier access for potty purposes)…this was really prevalent all over china, but I especially noticed it at this park…I took a couple pictures of baby butts! It’s actually pretty funny!
Once we left the park, we hopped into some rickshaws and sped through the narrow streets of china taking in a lot of the scenery before stopping to visit a private home. The people in this house worked as paper cutters, and did some of the most intricate and beautiful paper cutting work that I have ever seen. We had dinner at a “Western style” buffet, and then headed to the airport to catch our plane to Qingdao where our ship was now docked. This was a really icky flight with lots of turbulence and I had to sit in a middle seat. Once we finally arrived at the ship I was exhausted….I checked in and went straight to sleep!
On the last day, my group of friends finally returned from their Beijing trip….they decided to take a train from Honk Kong to Beijing and then again from Beijing to Qingdao. In total, they spent about 32 hours on a train….yuck! We slept in and then headed out to see the sites in Qingdao. It wasn’t as fun as Hong Kong or Beijing, but we made the best of it….we ate at a really good Pizza Hut, and visited a Chinese Walmart before finally heading back to the ship. Over all, I had a really good time in China. There was a lot to do, and my trip was really busy. I thought overall that people were pretty friendly and I’m beginning to notice that people throughout the world are a lot more similar than we are different- someone even asked me if I was half Chinese….funny huh? I guess my eyes are a little bit squinty.
I have a busy two days ahead of me….We will be in Japan on the 25th. I’ve got lots of papers to do and am not feeling so hot….I’ve got a pretty bad cold (again) and the sea’s are kind of rough so I’m feeling a little sea sick! Lets hope for the best! I’ll see you all in about 3 weeks!
Love, Val
Monday, April 16, 2007
Vietnam!!!
Hello Everyone!
I just returned from my 8th port, Vietnam, and it was amazing! I had so much fun and my time was even more enjoyable because my sister was able to meet me there! I arrived on Monday April 9 and stayed through Friday the 13th. The ship docked in Ho Chi Minh City (the hottest port I’ve been to) but I spent the majority of my time further North in Ha Noi (where it was a lot cooler). The currency in Vietnam is the Dong. The exchange rate is about 16,000 dong = $1 US. This was by far the most confusing port for me in terms of money! Vietnam is really busy and crowded, there are people on motorcycles and mopeds EVERYWHERE!!! Crossing the street was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do….Really, I thought India was bad, Vietnam was even worse! The traffic in Vietnam was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen….I don’t think I knew that so many motorcycles and mopeds even existed!
Only pictures and video can begin to explain this phenomenon….I have both, so be prepared to look at my footage when I get back!!
On day 1 Jenn and Eduardo (her boyfriend) met me at my ship at about 12:00pm, and after a quick stop at their hotel, we headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. Cu Chi is famous for its 200 kilometer network of underground tunnels. These tunnels were created and used buy the Viet Cong forces during wars with both the Americans and the French. Beginning in the 1940’s the tunnels were used as a base from which the Viet Cong could launch strategic attacks and then seemingly disappear in to thin air. The tunnels had well hidden entrances and thick roofs capable of withstanding the weight of the tanks and the impact of bombs. Unknowingly, the US even built a base camp on top of an existing tunnel network and suffered extensive casualties before they discovered their mistake. Most of the tunnels were only about 2ft wide and 5ft high. Some of the passageways and tunnel rooms have been enlarged for easier access for the thousands of tourists who visit the tunnels each year. Jenn, Eduardo and I attempted to crawl through one section of the tunnels, but Eduardo was the only one to fully complete the task….I chickened out about half way through, and Jenn got about a quarter of the way in before turning back! The tunnels were so dark and small, and we were even in a section where they were enlarged! I felt really claustrophobic and couldn’t even imagine how it must have been for the Viet Kong who practically lived beneath the ground using these elaborate tunnel systems. The tunnels also had a shooting range where we were able to shoot some real guns like those used during the war. The AK 47 bullets were all gone, so I shot an AK1, a huge gun that was soooo loud that I screamed every time a bullet was fired! Every little while we could hear the gun shots going off in the background and it made our experience at Cu Chi even more real….It was kind of scary, but also really cool! After leaving the tunnels we headed back to Ho Chi Minh to prepare for our trip to the Me Kong/Delta area. We left Ho Chi Minh at about 7:30 pm and our drive was about 4 hours. We checked into a hotel and called it a night.
On our second day we woke up bright and early to take a ferry ride down the river to the floating market. Here we saw many people selling various things, mostly fruits and vegetables, but everyone was selling their goods from little boats, it was really neat. We purchased a mango, melon, and a bottle of water, and way over paid, but even so, we only spent about two bucks! Our boat driver stopped and purchased some pineapple from one of the vendors and gave us some….even though we weren’t supposed to eat fruit that had been opened for us, we did it anyway, and it was delicious. After spending some time at the floating market, our driver began taking us further down the river. We stopped at what looked like somebody’s personal home. We got out and were greeted by a little Vietnamese lady who told us to look around the gardens. As we wondered through the gardens, we crossed over little bridges and walked along little paths next to ponds and pagodas. The woman met us and offered us Vietnamese pears off of one of the trees in the garden…they were pretty tasty, it wasn’t until later that I realized that I may have eaten an insect located on the outside of my pear….it was only a little one and I think that I spit most of it out!! The woman then offered us some Vietnamese coffee and asked whether we wanted iced coffee or hot….Again I broke the “no ice” rule and chose iced coffee. It actually looked and tasted pretty good, but I said my prayers just to be on the safe side. The woman then taught us some words in Vietnamese (keep in mind that this spelling is probably completely wrong, but this is how the words sounded to me)
…she said that iced coffee was café de-I, and hot coffee was café dang. She also told us that thank you was pronounced like cam on! We had a lot of fun learning Vietnamese from this woman. As we finished our coffee she brought me a flower and then began tearing off all of the petals, eventually there was only the small center and stem left, then the woman told us (with a huge grin) “rabbit”- she was right, the flower now resembled a bunny rabbit-this was quite fitting since this is the first year that I didn’t receive an Easter bunny! We thanked the woman and then headed back out towards our boat.
We continued cruising down the river, observing all of the people who actually live on and along the river as they went about their daily business.
We finally made it back to our hotel, we checked out and headed back to Ho Chi Minh so that we could catch our flight to Ha Noi. After a 4 hour bus ride We made it back to HCM and stopped to grab a snack at Pho 2000…Pho (pronounced like FUH) is a Vietnamese soup that consists of broth, veggies, some kind of meat or tofu and noodles….it was pretty good and Pho 2000 is highly recommended!! Former president Bill Clinton even ate there once! After a 2 hour flight, we arrived safely in Ha Noi. It was already pretty late in the evening when we got there, and we didn’t have any hotel reservations. As we traveled from hotel to hotel searching for a place to stay, I began to feel like Mary and Joseph….there was no room in the inn! We finally found a hotel and after a quick drink at the bar, hit the sheets.
Day 3 we woke up early and (After a delicious breakfast at our hotel) we headed out to go and see some of the city’s main attractions. Ha Noi is a really beautiful place filled with lots of cool little shops and cafés and tons of stuff to do. The first thing we saw was the mausoleum of former Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh. We had to wait in a long line of people (both tourists and locals). We weren’t allowed to take our cameras into the mausoleum and had to walk through metal detectors and check our belongings. Once we reached the doors of the actual Mausoleum we were surrounded by guards who strictly enforced rules of solemnity and respect for Ho Chi Minh. We weren’t allowed to put our hands in our pockets, laugh or look through books (Jenn and I had to find this out the hard way as we were scolded by one of the guards for snickering and attempting to read the rules from our Vietnam lonely planet book!) We entered the tomb and were able to actually look at the body of Ho Chi Minh which was incredibly well preserved….almost to the point that I felt a little skeptic….Ho Chi Minh (also known as Uncle Ho) died in 1969 and looked pretty good for being dead and gone for some 30 odd years! Anyway, the experience was really cool and after viewing the body of the late president we were able to look at his “vestige in the presidential palace area”-more commonly known as his home and office.
After this, we headed to the temple of Literature which was really cool. There was amazing architecture and we had a really good time walking around and looking at various temples and gardens. Once we’d seen all that there was to see, we headed over to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Ha Noi Hilton….this is the prison where they kept the American pilots who had been shot down as Prisoners of War. This sight was really interesting and sad…We were able to look at some of the original cells and even take pictures inside of them. Many of the photos that were displayed inside of the prison seemed to be in large part propaganda…for example, some of the US soldiers were shown playing volleyball, cooking, and having a great time….It was really interesting to see another side’s viewpoint of these events. After we finished at the Prison we headed over to the Ha Noi water puppet theatre. In the evening we had originally planned on seeing a puppet show, but were disappointed to find that all of the shows (during the time we were in town) were sold out! In light of this new information, we began searching for something else to do. After checking into a new hotel in the old quarter of Ha Noi, We decided to get foot massages and found an extremely nice place where we could get hour long massages for about 11 dollars each! Our massages began with our hands and arms, continued onto our legs and feet and ended with our heads and shoulders. The massage felt amazing and the women who performed them were really sweet. We were given hot Jasmine tea to enjoy during our procedures and after our massage ended I got a fresh coat of paint put on my toes! This was one of my favorite nights….we had a lot of fun!
On Day 4 we woke up early to embark on a 3 hour ride to the Ha Long Bay. The bay is a very popular tourist sight. The bay itself is full of ships and bustling with people. There are these massive rock formations that shoot out of the water making for beautiful scenery. In all, there are about 2,000 rock formations in the bay. Prior to boarding our boat for our bay tour, I was convinced to buy some pearl earrings from some women vendors. They are really pretty and I wish now that I had purchased more. When we finally got onto our boat, we headed for the top deck where chairs were set up for us to lounge on….the chairs were reclined and very comfy! After a short time, our boat stopped at a fish market on the water…this was a little shack set up right in the middle of the bay that was stocked with various types of fish including clams, crabs, shrimp, and shark, all of which were still very much alive! We were told that we could purchase some fish here and that our boat would prepare it for us to have for lunch…initially we weren’t going to buy any, but when we heard that squid was what was being served to us otherwise, we changed our minds. Eduardo and Jenn convinced me to try shark!!! We split one with some of the other people on our boat and got to select the one we wanted. We chose the smallest one which was still huge, and then had to see the market owners catch it and kill it…then the shark was given to our boat cook. We sat down for lunch on the first floor of our boat and began eating the lunch that was provided for us…it was pretty good, even the squid which we were initially so afraid of. About half way through our meal, the shark we had purchased was brought out to us on a platter….I was scared, but I tried my best to be brave and I ate some….I only took a few bites though because “what goes around comes around” and I thought that it may not be the wisest choice for a girl who is planning on swimming in the ocean to be eating something that can eat her back!! After lunch we headed toward this huge rock structure, which turned out to be a cave. As we headed inside to look around I was amazed at both the size and beauty of the interior. Although many neon lights and such had been added to make the cave more tourist friendly, and it somewhat reminded me of the cave of the winds mixed with a little bit of Casa Bonita, I still thought it was great! After we left the cave, we headed toward a little village on the water. We were given the option of taking a small boat through a small section water caves and seeing a school on the water for a $3 charge. We decided to take it and were able to take a short ride around on a small motorized wooden raft…the caves were pretty and even though we weren’t able to get out and really see the school, we got to give some candy and balloons to a few children. We then headed back to the mainland and after another 3 hour drive arrived at our hotel in Ha Noi. To our surprise, our hotel had managed to secure three tickets for us to the water puppet theatre and so we headed over to the show. The show was great…Vietnam is very well known for its water puppet shows and for very good reason. It was so good and I was even able to purchase a water puppet souvenir. After the show, we decided to grab some dinner and ended up at a very chic little restaurant. Again, I was reminded of Seany…it was very much his style! I had some amazing pasta…the best Spaghetti I’ve had in 2 ½ months!! After dinner we headed back and went to sleep.
Day 5 we woke up and headed to the airport. We had originally thought that we were going to be able to catch an earlier flight, but were disappointed to find out that we couldn’t leave until 11:30am. We hung out at the airport for a while and stopped to have some breakfast at a little restaurant that looked decent. We had just ordered our meals when suddenly, I spotted a cucaracha! I grabbed my shoe and killed him right on the spot! I was kind of grossed out, and Jenn laughed at me because here I was, a world traveler who has visited places with living things a lot bigger and scarier than roaches and I was creeped out! As if this experience wasn’t bad enough, moments after I had squished this cucaracha, another roach came along and scooped him up and carried him away to eat him!! AHHH! Cucaracha cannibalism! It was awful!
After this traumatic experience we were finally ready to catch our plane. The flight was good and once we were back in Ho Chi Minh City we headed to the Ben Tahnh Market to do some shopping. I really liked this market and got some good prizes for cheap! We also shopped along the street and I ended up finding a really pretty dress that I was able to have fitted for me. I bought it for around 35 bucks US! By this time, it was already getting pretty late, so we decided that it was about time to get me back to the ship! I was really sad to have to say goodbye to Jenn and her boy, and really sad to be leaving. Vietnam was really one of my most favorite places. I would really like to go back there
someday!
Tomorrow I arrive in Hong Kong and am pretty excited, it sounds like a really cool place. The next time I write I will have visited the Great Wall and will be only 23 days away from the end of my voyage around the world. I miss you all and hope that everything is going well at home. Love you, Val
PS. Thanks again Jenn, for helping me have an amazing time in Vietnam! I love you!
I just returned from my 8th port, Vietnam, and it was amazing! I had so much fun and my time was even more enjoyable because my sister was able to meet me there! I arrived on Monday April 9 and stayed through Friday the 13th. The ship docked in Ho Chi Minh City (the hottest port I’ve been to) but I spent the majority of my time further North in Ha Noi (where it was a lot cooler). The currency in Vietnam is the Dong. The exchange rate is about 16,000 dong = $1 US. This was by far the most confusing port for me in terms of money! Vietnam is really busy and crowded, there are people on motorcycles and mopeds EVERYWHERE!!! Crossing the street was honestly one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do….Really, I thought India was bad, Vietnam was even worse! The traffic in Vietnam was honestly one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen….I don’t think I knew that so many motorcycles and mopeds even existed!
Only pictures and video can begin to explain this phenomenon….I have both, so be prepared to look at my footage when I get back!!
On day 1 Jenn and Eduardo (her boyfriend) met me at my ship at about 12:00pm, and after a quick stop at their hotel, we headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. Cu Chi is famous for its 200 kilometer network of underground tunnels. These tunnels were created and used buy the Viet Cong forces during wars with both the Americans and the French. Beginning in the 1940’s the tunnels were used as a base from which the Viet Cong could launch strategic attacks and then seemingly disappear in to thin air. The tunnels had well hidden entrances and thick roofs capable of withstanding the weight of the tanks and the impact of bombs. Unknowingly, the US even built a base camp on top of an existing tunnel network and suffered extensive casualties before they discovered their mistake. Most of the tunnels were only about 2ft wide and 5ft high. Some of the passageways and tunnel rooms have been enlarged for easier access for the thousands of tourists who visit the tunnels each year. Jenn, Eduardo and I attempted to crawl through one section of the tunnels, but Eduardo was the only one to fully complete the task….I chickened out about half way through, and Jenn got about a quarter of the way in before turning back! The tunnels were so dark and small, and we were even in a section where they were enlarged! I felt really claustrophobic and couldn’t even imagine how it must have been for the Viet Kong who practically lived beneath the ground using these elaborate tunnel systems. The tunnels also had a shooting range where we were able to shoot some real guns like those used during the war. The AK 47 bullets were all gone, so I shot an AK1, a huge gun that was soooo loud that I screamed every time a bullet was fired! Every little while we could hear the gun shots going off in the background and it made our experience at Cu Chi even more real….It was kind of scary, but also really cool! After leaving the tunnels we headed back to Ho Chi Minh to prepare for our trip to the Me Kong/Delta area. We left Ho Chi Minh at about 7:30 pm and our drive was about 4 hours. We checked into a hotel and called it a night.
On our second day we woke up bright and early to take a ferry ride down the river to the floating market. Here we saw many people selling various things, mostly fruits and vegetables, but everyone was selling their goods from little boats, it was really neat. We purchased a mango, melon, and a bottle of water, and way over paid, but even so, we only spent about two bucks! Our boat driver stopped and purchased some pineapple from one of the vendors and gave us some….even though we weren’t supposed to eat fruit that had been opened for us, we did it anyway, and it was delicious. After spending some time at the floating market, our driver began taking us further down the river. We stopped at what looked like somebody’s personal home. We got out and were greeted by a little Vietnamese lady who told us to look around the gardens. As we wondered through the gardens, we crossed over little bridges and walked along little paths next to ponds and pagodas. The woman met us and offered us Vietnamese pears off of one of the trees in the garden…they were pretty tasty, it wasn’t until later that I realized that I may have eaten an insect located on the outside of my pear….it was only a little one and I think that I spit most of it out!! The woman then offered us some Vietnamese coffee and asked whether we wanted iced coffee or hot….Again I broke the “no ice” rule and chose iced coffee. It actually looked and tasted pretty good, but I said my prayers just to be on the safe side. The woman then taught us some words in Vietnamese (keep in mind that this spelling is probably completely wrong, but this is how the words sounded to me)
…she said that iced coffee was café de-I, and hot coffee was café dang. She also told us that thank you was pronounced like cam on! We had a lot of fun learning Vietnamese from this woman. As we finished our coffee she brought me a flower and then began tearing off all of the petals, eventually there was only the small center and stem left, then the woman told us (with a huge grin) “rabbit”- she was right, the flower now resembled a bunny rabbit-this was quite fitting since this is the first year that I didn’t receive an Easter bunny! We thanked the woman and then headed back out towards our boat.
We continued cruising down the river, observing all of the people who actually live on and along the river as they went about their daily business.
We finally made it back to our hotel, we checked out and headed back to Ho Chi Minh so that we could catch our flight to Ha Noi. After a 4 hour bus ride We made it back to HCM and stopped to grab a snack at Pho 2000…Pho (pronounced like FUH) is a Vietnamese soup that consists of broth, veggies, some kind of meat or tofu and noodles….it was pretty good and Pho 2000 is highly recommended!! Former president Bill Clinton even ate there once! After a 2 hour flight, we arrived safely in Ha Noi. It was already pretty late in the evening when we got there, and we didn’t have any hotel reservations. As we traveled from hotel to hotel searching for a place to stay, I began to feel like Mary and Joseph….there was no room in the inn! We finally found a hotel and after a quick drink at the bar, hit the sheets.
Day 3 we woke up early and (After a delicious breakfast at our hotel) we headed out to go and see some of the city’s main attractions. Ha Noi is a really beautiful place filled with lots of cool little shops and cafés and tons of stuff to do. The first thing we saw was the mausoleum of former Vietnamese president Ho Chi Minh. We had to wait in a long line of people (both tourists and locals). We weren’t allowed to take our cameras into the mausoleum and had to walk through metal detectors and check our belongings. Once we reached the doors of the actual Mausoleum we were surrounded by guards who strictly enforced rules of solemnity and respect for Ho Chi Minh. We weren’t allowed to put our hands in our pockets, laugh or look through books (Jenn and I had to find this out the hard way as we were scolded by one of the guards for snickering and attempting to read the rules from our Vietnam lonely planet book!) We entered the tomb and were able to actually look at the body of Ho Chi Minh which was incredibly well preserved….almost to the point that I felt a little skeptic….Ho Chi Minh (also known as Uncle Ho) died in 1969 and looked pretty good for being dead and gone for some 30 odd years! Anyway, the experience was really cool and after viewing the body of the late president we were able to look at his “vestige in the presidential palace area”-more commonly known as his home and office.
After this, we headed to the temple of Literature which was really cool. There was amazing architecture and we had a really good time walking around and looking at various temples and gardens. Once we’d seen all that there was to see, we headed over to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Ha Noi Hilton….this is the prison where they kept the American pilots who had been shot down as Prisoners of War. This sight was really interesting and sad…We were able to look at some of the original cells and even take pictures inside of them. Many of the photos that were displayed inside of the prison seemed to be in large part propaganda…for example, some of the US soldiers were shown playing volleyball, cooking, and having a great time….It was really interesting to see another side’s viewpoint of these events. After we finished at the Prison we headed over to the Ha Noi water puppet theatre. In the evening we had originally planned on seeing a puppet show, but were disappointed to find that all of the shows (during the time we were in town) were sold out! In light of this new information, we began searching for something else to do. After checking into a new hotel in the old quarter of Ha Noi, We decided to get foot massages and found an extremely nice place where we could get hour long massages for about 11 dollars each! Our massages began with our hands and arms, continued onto our legs and feet and ended with our heads and shoulders. The massage felt amazing and the women who performed them were really sweet. We were given hot Jasmine tea to enjoy during our procedures and after our massage ended I got a fresh coat of paint put on my toes! This was one of my favorite nights….we had a lot of fun!
On Day 4 we woke up early to embark on a 3 hour ride to the Ha Long Bay. The bay is a very popular tourist sight. The bay itself is full of ships and bustling with people. There are these massive rock formations that shoot out of the water making for beautiful scenery. In all, there are about 2,000 rock formations in the bay. Prior to boarding our boat for our bay tour, I was convinced to buy some pearl earrings from some women vendors. They are really pretty and I wish now that I had purchased more. When we finally got onto our boat, we headed for the top deck where chairs were set up for us to lounge on….the chairs were reclined and very comfy! After a short time, our boat stopped at a fish market on the water…this was a little shack set up right in the middle of the bay that was stocked with various types of fish including clams, crabs, shrimp, and shark, all of which were still very much alive! We were told that we could purchase some fish here and that our boat would prepare it for us to have for lunch…initially we weren’t going to buy any, but when we heard that squid was what was being served to us otherwise, we changed our minds. Eduardo and Jenn convinced me to try shark!!! We split one with some of the other people on our boat and got to select the one we wanted. We chose the smallest one which was still huge, and then had to see the market owners catch it and kill it…then the shark was given to our boat cook. We sat down for lunch on the first floor of our boat and began eating the lunch that was provided for us…it was pretty good, even the squid which we were initially so afraid of. About half way through our meal, the shark we had purchased was brought out to us on a platter….I was scared, but I tried my best to be brave and I ate some….I only took a few bites though because “what goes around comes around” and I thought that it may not be the wisest choice for a girl who is planning on swimming in the ocean to be eating something that can eat her back!! After lunch we headed toward this huge rock structure, which turned out to be a cave. As we headed inside to look around I was amazed at both the size and beauty of the interior. Although many neon lights and such had been added to make the cave more tourist friendly, and it somewhat reminded me of the cave of the winds mixed with a little bit of Casa Bonita, I still thought it was great! After we left the cave, we headed toward a little village on the water. We were given the option of taking a small boat through a small section water caves and seeing a school on the water for a $3 charge. We decided to take it and were able to take a short ride around on a small motorized wooden raft…the caves were pretty and even though we weren’t able to get out and really see the school, we got to give some candy and balloons to a few children. We then headed back to the mainland and after another 3 hour drive arrived at our hotel in Ha Noi. To our surprise, our hotel had managed to secure three tickets for us to the water puppet theatre and so we headed over to the show. The show was great…Vietnam is very well known for its water puppet shows and for very good reason. It was so good and I was even able to purchase a water puppet souvenir. After the show, we decided to grab some dinner and ended up at a very chic little restaurant. Again, I was reminded of Seany…it was very much his style! I had some amazing pasta…the best Spaghetti I’ve had in 2 ½ months!! After dinner we headed back and went to sleep.
Day 5 we woke up and headed to the airport. We had originally thought that we were going to be able to catch an earlier flight, but were disappointed to find out that we couldn’t leave until 11:30am. We hung out at the airport for a while and stopped to have some breakfast at a little restaurant that looked decent. We had just ordered our meals when suddenly, I spotted a cucaracha! I grabbed my shoe and killed him right on the spot! I was kind of grossed out, and Jenn laughed at me because here I was, a world traveler who has visited places with living things a lot bigger and scarier than roaches and I was creeped out! As if this experience wasn’t bad enough, moments after I had squished this cucaracha, another roach came along and scooped him up and carried him away to eat him!! AHHH! Cucaracha cannibalism! It was awful!
After this traumatic experience we were finally ready to catch our plane. The flight was good and once we were back in Ho Chi Minh City we headed to the Ben Tahnh Market to do some shopping. I really liked this market and got some good prizes for cheap! We also shopped along the street and I ended up finding a really pretty dress that I was able to have fitted for me. I bought it for around 35 bucks US! By this time, it was already getting pretty late, so we decided that it was about time to get me back to the ship! I was really sad to have to say goodbye to Jenn and her boy, and really sad to be leaving. Vietnam was really one of my most favorite places. I would really like to go back there
someday!
Tomorrow I arrive in Hong Kong and am pretty excited, it sounds like a really cool place. The next time I write I will have visited the Great Wall and will be only 23 days away from the end of my voyage around the world. I miss you all and hope that everything is going well at home. Love you, Val
PS. Thanks again Jenn, for helping me have an amazing time in Vietnam! I love you!
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Malaysia
I just returned from Malaysia and it was great! We arrived in Penang on Monday and stayed through Thurs. Our ship wasn’t allowed to pull up directly to the dock, instead we had to drop anchor out further in the middle of the ocean and take tendered ferries across the harbor to get to the dock…it was quite a process! Malaysian Currency is the Rinkett The conversion rate is about 3.4 rinkett to the US dollar. The three main ethnic groups in Malaysia are Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian- Quite an interesting combo. Penang has an amazing shopping mall. On the first day we entered a huge mall with so many cute things and CHEAP shoes…..so many shoes! I did a pretty good job and only bought one pair of heels and one pair of tennis shoes-they are cheapies-I needed some temporary replacements because my Nikes were ruined during my jungle adventure….In the evening Michael, Adrienne, and Greg went to some other city in Malaysia so Celina and I were on our own. After we had finished shopping, we hopped in a carriage….that was pushed by a man on a bike from behind….I know, I know this already sounds like trouble…but we hopped in and asked him to take us to the ship….along the way he began taking us on this scenic route and along dark abandoned streets….we were really scared. I saw (once again) a ton of rats along the way. Finally we arrived safely back at the dock and we headed back to the ship.
On the second day, we woke up and left for our trip to the Cameron Highlands. The Cameron highlands are about 4 hours away by bus and are extremely beautiful. Unlike some of our friends who found a lot of hustle and bustle in the big cities of Malaysia, our trip was really relaxing and mellow. We did a lot of hiking through jungle, and visits to places like tea plantations, and strawberry farms. The natural scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect….back in Penang, the temperatures are hot and humid, but in the highlands we were able to enjoy cooler weather….it kind of reminded me of being in the mountains in Colorado…during the summer of course! On our way to our hotel in the highlands, we stopped at this really old Chinese temple inside of this huge cave…it was really neat and really old. We also had lunch at this weird Chinese restaurant….the food was ok, but I had to pee, and I still don’t know how to use those squatters very well! Our hotel was really nice, and Celina and I got to be roomies again! We walked around this little town in the highlands and then we had some good nan (remember the Indian bread that looks like a tortilla) at this little pub/restaurant. I went to sleep pretty early but got well rested for our trip to the jungle the next day!
We woke up bright and early and split up into cars of 7 so that we could go to the Highlands. First we stopped at this really high tower. We had to climb some really steep stairs about 4 stories high, but once we got to the top we were able to get an amazing view of the Highlands. The scenery was incredible. We also stopped at a tea plantation and got a cheesy yet interesting lesson on how tea is made and processed in Malaysia. Tea is one of Malaysia’s biggest exports and the work that tea harvesting provided is one reason why the culture is so diverse….many people from countries like China and India came to work on the plantations. We got to sample some of the tea and I was even able to purchase some to bring home with me.
After visiting the tea plantation we made our way to the highlands. The driver of our car ended up being our main guide through the highlands. We started out on this nice little track, and before I knew it we were in the middle of the jungle. The ground was really soft and squishy….only later did I find out that we weren’t even standing on the ground, but instead we were standing on a canopy of grass and shrubbery that grew above the ground and roots of the trees. For some reason I was the dirtiest girl of all time…I kept on slipping and so my pants and shoes were filthy….I wouldn’t have felt so bad, but everyone else came out of the jungle relatively clean-haha…..I am such a mess! Our path was actually pretty difficult….there were no distinct paths and we had to just follow our guide as best we could and hope that we didn’t get lost…we walked through a lot of muddy places and did a lot of uphill climbing. Throughout our hike, We were able to see different kinds of trees, flowers, and plant life. We also got to see the pitcher plant….aka…the carnivorous plants! I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed to find that the plant was relatively small and that it wasn’t carnivorous at all, but instead it was insectivorous. The plant only traps and eats bugs! I was expecting to encounter a huge man eating shrub like the one on Little Shop of Horrors. Regardless of my disappointment, the hike was beautiful and I had a good time.
After leaving the highlands, we headed back to the tea plantation for lunch…we had bananas, rice and some weird chicken….strange for a box lunch.
After we lunch we headed to this little village where we were able to try our hand at blowing a poisonous dart out of a long wooden tube. I did a bad job…..I missed the target entirely, but at least I hit the tree! We also got to see some cutie babies…there were a lot of kids just sittin around….I found this cutest baby girl and she kept on waving to me! I love her so much…..She was my favorite. After the village we were told that we were going to this strawberry farm that also specialized in serving amazing strawberry snacks!! But before we got to go to the farm we had to stop at this lame hot spring….it was dirty and so lame….but we made the best of it and pretended it was kind of cool!
Finally we were heading to the strawberry farm and wouldn’t you know it, our car broke down….well actually it just overheated! The 4 girls in the car just sat inside while the boys got out and helped collect water to pour on the engine….I think…..
Finally we made it to the strawberry farm and I had an AMAZING strawberry Sunday!! It was so good! YUMMY! We left the farm and headed back to the hotel where we had dinner before heading out to that same little pub to have more good tea and nan with a group of SAS kids.
The next morning we left at about 9 am and headed back to Penang. We made a stop at a lame market which sold nothing but strawberries and flowers….I was sad because we aren’t allowed to bring fresh fruit or plant life onto the ship so this was a lame waste of time for us….we also stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch….it was kind of gross-not because I am a sissy but because it really was gross! Our last stop was at this shop where people hand painted different fabrics used for clothes, or decoration….the process was kind of cool, but the stuff they sold was pretty expensive so I didn’t buy anything.
Once we were back at the dock, Celina and I decided to head back to that amazing mall to buy some last minute stuff…It was about 4:30 and our on ship time was 9 so we figured we had plenty of time. We shopped a little, and had some pizza hut before heading back to the dock. We were in line by 8pm and as we waited to board the ferried boats, we began to panic with the realization that we weren’t going to make it onto the ship by 9. It wasn’t just us, there were at least 100 SAS kids in our same situation. We waited and waited and finally were able to board a boat…by the time we got onto the actual ship, it was 9:40 pm…..ridiculous, we had just waited an hour and 40 minutes to get back onto the ship. I was so sad that I was going to get dock time….(4 hours worth) but luckily the ship administration issued us warnings instead of giving us dock time in Vietnam…this was really good considering Jenn is meeting me in Vietnam and we have a jam packed schedule! However, if I am ever late again in any of the remaining ports I will get an additional 4hours of dock time added to what ever time I get. So basically I can never be late again, and I don’t intend to!
I miss you and hope everyone is doing well. I’ll write after Vietnam. Love you, Val
On the second day, we woke up and left for our trip to the Cameron Highlands. The Cameron highlands are about 4 hours away by bus and are extremely beautiful. Unlike some of our friends who found a lot of hustle and bustle in the big cities of Malaysia, our trip was really relaxing and mellow. We did a lot of hiking through jungle, and visits to places like tea plantations, and strawberry farms. The natural scenery was beautiful and the weather was perfect….back in Penang, the temperatures are hot and humid, but in the highlands we were able to enjoy cooler weather….it kind of reminded me of being in the mountains in Colorado…during the summer of course! On our way to our hotel in the highlands, we stopped at this really old Chinese temple inside of this huge cave…it was really neat and really old. We also had lunch at this weird Chinese restaurant….the food was ok, but I had to pee, and I still don’t know how to use those squatters very well! Our hotel was really nice, and Celina and I got to be roomies again! We walked around this little town in the highlands and then we had some good nan (remember the Indian bread that looks like a tortilla) at this little pub/restaurant. I went to sleep pretty early but got well rested for our trip to the jungle the next day!
We woke up bright and early and split up into cars of 7 so that we could go to the Highlands. First we stopped at this really high tower. We had to climb some really steep stairs about 4 stories high, but once we got to the top we were able to get an amazing view of the Highlands. The scenery was incredible. We also stopped at a tea plantation and got a cheesy yet interesting lesson on how tea is made and processed in Malaysia. Tea is one of Malaysia’s biggest exports and the work that tea harvesting provided is one reason why the culture is so diverse….many people from countries like China and India came to work on the plantations. We got to sample some of the tea and I was even able to purchase some to bring home with me.
After visiting the tea plantation we made our way to the highlands. The driver of our car ended up being our main guide through the highlands. We started out on this nice little track, and before I knew it we were in the middle of the jungle. The ground was really soft and squishy….only later did I find out that we weren’t even standing on the ground, but instead we were standing on a canopy of grass and shrubbery that grew above the ground and roots of the trees. For some reason I was the dirtiest girl of all time…I kept on slipping and so my pants and shoes were filthy….I wouldn’t have felt so bad, but everyone else came out of the jungle relatively clean-haha…..I am such a mess! Our path was actually pretty difficult….there were no distinct paths and we had to just follow our guide as best we could and hope that we didn’t get lost…we walked through a lot of muddy places and did a lot of uphill climbing. Throughout our hike, We were able to see different kinds of trees, flowers, and plant life. We also got to see the pitcher plant….aka…the carnivorous plants! I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed to find that the plant was relatively small and that it wasn’t carnivorous at all, but instead it was insectivorous. The plant only traps and eats bugs! I was expecting to encounter a huge man eating shrub like the one on Little Shop of Horrors. Regardless of my disappointment, the hike was beautiful and I had a good time.
After leaving the highlands, we headed back to the tea plantation for lunch…we had bananas, rice and some weird chicken….strange for a box lunch.
After we lunch we headed to this little village where we were able to try our hand at blowing a poisonous dart out of a long wooden tube. I did a bad job…..I missed the target entirely, but at least I hit the tree! We also got to see some cutie babies…there were a lot of kids just sittin around….I found this cutest baby girl and she kept on waving to me! I love her so much…..She was my favorite. After the village we were told that we were going to this strawberry farm that also specialized in serving amazing strawberry snacks!! But before we got to go to the farm we had to stop at this lame hot spring….it was dirty and so lame….but we made the best of it and pretended it was kind of cool!
Finally we were heading to the strawberry farm and wouldn’t you know it, our car broke down….well actually it just overheated! The 4 girls in the car just sat inside while the boys got out and helped collect water to pour on the engine….I think…..
Finally we made it to the strawberry farm and I had an AMAZING strawberry Sunday!! It was so good! YUMMY! We left the farm and headed back to the hotel where we had dinner before heading out to that same little pub to have more good tea and nan with a group of SAS kids.
The next morning we left at about 9 am and headed back to Penang. We made a stop at a lame market which sold nothing but strawberries and flowers….I was sad because we aren’t allowed to bring fresh fruit or plant life onto the ship so this was a lame waste of time for us….we also stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch….it was kind of gross-not because I am a sissy but because it really was gross! Our last stop was at this shop where people hand painted different fabrics used for clothes, or decoration….the process was kind of cool, but the stuff they sold was pretty expensive so I didn’t buy anything.
Once we were back at the dock, Celina and I decided to head back to that amazing mall to buy some last minute stuff…It was about 4:30 and our on ship time was 9 so we figured we had plenty of time. We shopped a little, and had some pizza hut before heading back to the dock. We were in line by 8pm and as we waited to board the ferried boats, we began to panic with the realization that we weren’t going to make it onto the ship by 9. It wasn’t just us, there were at least 100 SAS kids in our same situation. We waited and waited and finally were able to board a boat…by the time we got onto the actual ship, it was 9:40 pm…..ridiculous, we had just waited an hour and 40 minutes to get back onto the ship. I was so sad that I was going to get dock time….(4 hours worth) but luckily the ship administration issued us warnings instead of giving us dock time in Vietnam…this was really good considering Jenn is meeting me in Vietnam and we have a jam packed schedule! However, if I am ever late again in any of the remaining ports I will get an additional 4hours of dock time added to what ever time I get. So basically I can never be late again, and I don’t intend to!
I miss you and hope everyone is doing well. I’ll write after Vietnam. Love you, Val
Sunday, April 1, 2007
India
Hello all!
I just returned from India and it was CRAZY!!
We arrived in India on a Sunday and I couldn’t have started out on a better note! I was invited to have church with the Archbishop! It was a small private ceremony with only about 9 people in attendance. I got to sit next to Desmond’s wife. She was really nice! We listened to readings from the bible including the story of the adulterous woman that Jesus protected by telling the towns people “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. I felt too proud to speak because I was already familiar with the story and I think that a few of the other students who were there had never heard it before. We sang “Jesus I adore you, and I lay my life before you, how I love you” and got to sing it in a cannon…again I was too proud to speak because I knew that song and helped keep the cannon going! It was fun! We also had communion. The Archbishop gave us the bread first….but the bread was really big…not like our good little crackers from church….this was a large piece of a biscuit. I had a really hard time swallowing it and got kind of scared that I wouldn’t be able to finish it before it was my turn to drink the wine. I forced it down just in time and was able to have a successful communion with Des. I was (and still am) so excited that I got to have that experience…..when else am I going to get to have a private church ceremony with the archbishop?
India is extremely polluted and not very clean….there was lots of poverty and disease which made me really sad, and much of it was hard to take in. My trip was so fast paced….I never slowed down, so even though I was there for 5 days, I felt like my visit was really quick.
The weather in India is both hot and humid but the culture in India doesn’t allow women to wear anything too revealing, so our knees and shoulders always had to be covered….a very uncomfortable thing to do when it is a million degrees outside.
The currency in India is the rupee (again… I know it’s strange) and the exchange rate is 44 rupees to the dollar. India is really cheap I spent a ton of money, but got a lot of stuff. The main mode of transportation in India is rickshaw. These are little motorized cars…not like the ones that are attached to bicycles. Each rickshaw can fit 3 people and they cost about 60 rupees to get around….that is like $1.50. India is also full of dogs, monkeys, cows and rats. I saw so many of them….I am terrified of rats so I had to do my best job to be brave! I though that for the most part I did a really good job! J
On our first day in Chenai India, we climbed into a rickshaw and were amazed at how crazy people drive….there is no such thing as lanes in India, and people drive like crazies!! I saw many motorcycles carrying full families….I’m talking a grown man, grown woman and like 3 kids including an infant….this was really nuts! Also, our rickshaw drivers thought that it would be a good idea to drive down the wrong way of a one way street on a few occasions….this was really scary! The rickshaw drivers get a commission from different stores if they take all of their fares to different shops before taking them to their final destination….as a result of this, we ended up visiting about 7 different little shops before finally arriving at the outside market where we wanted to be. This was kind of annoying, but we made the best of it. Near one of the stores, we were able to see a snake charmer…a man had a cobra in a basket and he played his flute and the snake slithered out….it was really neat….I have it on video….
When we finally got to the out door market we did some shopping (I got some really cool bags, and a drum) and then headed back home. On the way we stopped at this hotel to have some dinner….we ate authentic Indian food….my most favorite is the Nan which is a type of Indian bread (I think it’s because it reminds me of homemade tortillas) and these lentils called….well we just called them lentils. How funny, I went all the way to India to eat beans and tortillas! Now that is a true Mexican!! In the evening we went to an Indian welcome ceremony where we were able to get some henna drawn on our hands and see some authentic Indian dance. We were also given some bindi’s (the little dots that are placed on the forehead). We finally got back to the ship and began packing for our trip to Agra.
Day two began at about 3 am….we woke up early because our semester at sea trip left at 4 am to catch a 6:00 air plane. We had to get searched like crazy by these women behind a screen….I think I got a little bit felt up….So I was kind of sad but I guess it’s just part of the experience….
Once on the plane, we were offered really good service by stewardesses in sari’s and were given a full breakfast meal. I ate a spinach omelet-even though we were instructed by our on ship doctor to avoid spinach because it contains lead….oops! It tasted good!
Our flight landed in Deli and then we had to hop on a 4 hour train to Agra. The train was late, so we ended up sitting at the train station for about 2 hours while we waited for our train to arrive. The train station is an interesting place full of all types of people. There are beggars everywhere and many people trying to sell various items. Also, the train station was full of monkeys….kind of fun, but also kind of scary! I also saw a litter of small puppies- they were mangy and probably full of rabies, but I wanted to play with them anyway….if our train hadn’t arrived at just about the time that I saw them, I would probably have rabies right now….they were so cute!! Initially when we were given our train seating assignments Celina, Michael and I were assigned to a different car than the rest of our group… as we made our way over to the last car on the train we found ourselves feeling very scared and uncomfortable. The train was a second-class passenger train un air-conditioned and full of locals…many of them sick and kind of sketch. Here we were three little scared and stupid Americans….luckily one of our tour guides came and found us to have us sit with the rest of the SAS kids in a different car. Although the train ride was long and uncomfortable…we were hot, and people kept passing though our car begging for money-it certainly was an experience! One boy came and swept our floor and then begged for some of our funds….I gave him a pack of fruit snacks instead….I hope he liked them….they are my favorites! When we finally got to Agra, we had just enough time to check into our hotel, grab some dinner and hit the sheets.
Day 3 we got to go to the Taj Mahal and see the sun rise. It was amazing. The Taj is huge, and it is beautiful….there were tons of people there both locals and tourists. While we were walking around taking pictures, a local woman approached me and asked if she could take a picture with me….it was so strange because here I was submerged in this whole new culture thinking about how different everyone else is and here I am the one who is really different. I got many stares and questions about where I was from….I guess that most Indians think that Americans are blond haired and blue eyed…..there probably aren’t many Mexicans in India! This scenario happened to me about 3 different times during my time in India. After seeing the sunrise at the Taj, we were able to go to a fort in Agra. I don’t really remember the story or significance of it (how sad), but it was beautiful!! The architecture was amazing and I couldn’t believe all of the detail that was added by hand. In Agra, there are many street vendors who are trying to sell their wares…many of them are children and it is both sad and annoying….a lot of times they would be really pushy and when children were trying to sell their items, I would always feel bad for not buying their little trinkets that cost practically nothing. A few times I gave in, so I have a few random little prizes like key chains that I will need to give away!
Once we left the fort we went to the hotel and had dinner. The food was surprisingly really good. Again, we had those good beans and tortillas! After dinner, we went back to the Taj to see the sun set, and this time we actually got to go inside. There was no flash photography allowed in the Taj, and we had to remove our shoes or put on these hospital booties. They were funny! The Taj has all kinds of amazing detail, and each of the floral designs throughout is composed of small semi-precious stones. I couldn’t believe how intricate the details were. Building the Taj was quite a process….20,000 people were employed for 22 years in order to get it finished. Inside of the Taj, we were able to see the tombs of Sha Jihan and his queen M_____ Jihan. This was really cool, and kind of creepy. After we left the Taj we headed back to our hotel and checked out. We then headed back to the train station to go back to Deli. This train ride was a lot more comfortable than the first. We rode in air conditioned compartments and had our own comfy seats. We were in Deli before we knew it, and proceeded to our hotel. Outside of the train station we saw many sick and diseased people. I saw a man with elephant feet….seriously they were huge. They looked like they were really painful and I felt so sad. People with crippled legs were also in abundance. I think many of them suffered from polio, and it made me sad to know that polio can be prevented with a simple vaccination. This was among the most difficult things that I saw while in India.
Our Deli hotel was really nice and we had really good rooms too! It was Michael’s birthday so we went to the club in our hotel. This was pretty fun, I bought a round of drinks for around 1800 rupees. I didn’t think anything of it until later when I realized that I had spent about $40 on long island ice teas!! I was really sad, but that was Michael’s birthday present. Needless to say I didn’t buy any more beverages that night!
We woke up the next day and headed to the Gandhiji museum. This was really cool and I was disappointed that we weren’t able to stay longer. I didn’t even get a chance to really explore the whole thing. After returning to the hotel for lunch we packed our things and checked out. At the airport I saw a man with a little St. Bernard puppy! This one wasn’t a stray….he was so cute! I just wanted to play with him! The owner was an Indian man and he said that the puppy was only 4 weeks old…his name was Ivan! I loved him!
The plane ride was kind of scary….the air must not have been working properly, and I thought I was going to die of heat stroke…..I have never been so hot and sweaty on a plane….usually I am freezing. This was strange, but we arrived safely and headed back to the ship to get some much needed sleep.
Our last day was rushed and chaotic. We headed to a place called Spencer’s Plaza (a big mall) and again took a crazy rickshaw. Our driver dropped us off on the wrong side of the street, and we spent about 20 minutes standing on a small median in the middle of traffic being scared and fearful for our lives. I was really scared….my legs were even shaking….Some locals finally had to help us to get across. the mall was cool, and I did some serious shopping. We made our way back to the ship and I got to make some last minute phone calls….they were a lot cheaper than just calling from the ship (3 min for $1).
The trip to Malaysia is a short one…we’ll actually be there tomorrow! I am really excited. I have a SAS trip planned and I am going to go and see the Cameron Highlands. I think we will be able to see jungles, waterfalls, and carnivorous plants! Can’t wait!
I love and miss you all very much! ~Val
I just returned from India and it was CRAZY!!
We arrived in India on a Sunday and I couldn’t have started out on a better note! I was invited to have church with the Archbishop! It was a small private ceremony with only about 9 people in attendance. I got to sit next to Desmond’s wife. She was really nice! We listened to readings from the bible including the story of the adulterous woman that Jesus protected by telling the towns people “let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. I felt too proud to speak because I was already familiar with the story and I think that a few of the other students who were there had never heard it before. We sang “Jesus I adore you, and I lay my life before you, how I love you” and got to sing it in a cannon…again I was too proud to speak because I knew that song and helped keep the cannon going! It was fun! We also had communion. The Archbishop gave us the bread first….but the bread was really big…not like our good little crackers from church….this was a large piece of a biscuit. I had a really hard time swallowing it and got kind of scared that I wouldn’t be able to finish it before it was my turn to drink the wine. I forced it down just in time and was able to have a successful communion with Des. I was (and still am) so excited that I got to have that experience…..when else am I going to get to have a private church ceremony with the archbishop?
India is extremely polluted and not very clean….there was lots of poverty and disease which made me really sad, and much of it was hard to take in. My trip was so fast paced….I never slowed down, so even though I was there for 5 days, I felt like my visit was really quick.
The weather in India is both hot and humid but the culture in India doesn’t allow women to wear anything too revealing, so our knees and shoulders always had to be covered….a very uncomfortable thing to do when it is a million degrees outside.
The currency in India is the rupee (again… I know it’s strange) and the exchange rate is 44 rupees to the dollar. India is really cheap I spent a ton of money, but got a lot of stuff. The main mode of transportation in India is rickshaw. These are little motorized cars…not like the ones that are attached to bicycles. Each rickshaw can fit 3 people and they cost about 60 rupees to get around….that is like $1.50. India is also full of dogs, monkeys, cows and rats. I saw so many of them….I am terrified of rats so I had to do my best job to be brave! I though that for the most part I did a really good job! J
On our first day in Chenai India, we climbed into a rickshaw and were amazed at how crazy people drive….there is no such thing as lanes in India, and people drive like crazies!! I saw many motorcycles carrying full families….I’m talking a grown man, grown woman and like 3 kids including an infant….this was really nuts! Also, our rickshaw drivers thought that it would be a good idea to drive down the wrong way of a one way street on a few occasions….this was really scary! The rickshaw drivers get a commission from different stores if they take all of their fares to different shops before taking them to their final destination….as a result of this, we ended up visiting about 7 different little shops before finally arriving at the outside market where we wanted to be. This was kind of annoying, but we made the best of it. Near one of the stores, we were able to see a snake charmer…a man had a cobra in a basket and he played his flute and the snake slithered out….it was really neat….I have it on video….
When we finally got to the out door market we did some shopping (I got some really cool bags, and a drum) and then headed back home. On the way we stopped at this hotel to have some dinner….we ate authentic Indian food….my most favorite is the Nan which is a type of Indian bread (I think it’s because it reminds me of homemade tortillas) and these lentils called….well we just called them lentils. How funny, I went all the way to India to eat beans and tortillas! Now that is a true Mexican!! In the evening we went to an Indian welcome ceremony where we were able to get some henna drawn on our hands and see some authentic Indian dance. We were also given some bindi’s (the little dots that are placed on the forehead). We finally got back to the ship and began packing for our trip to Agra.
Day two began at about 3 am….we woke up early because our semester at sea trip left at 4 am to catch a 6:00 air plane. We had to get searched like crazy by these women behind a screen….I think I got a little bit felt up….So I was kind of sad but I guess it’s just part of the experience….
Once on the plane, we were offered really good service by stewardesses in sari’s and were given a full breakfast meal. I ate a spinach omelet-even though we were instructed by our on ship doctor to avoid spinach because it contains lead….oops! It tasted good!
Our flight landed in Deli and then we had to hop on a 4 hour train to Agra. The train was late, so we ended up sitting at the train station for about 2 hours while we waited for our train to arrive. The train station is an interesting place full of all types of people. There are beggars everywhere and many people trying to sell various items. Also, the train station was full of monkeys….kind of fun, but also kind of scary! I also saw a litter of small puppies- they were mangy and probably full of rabies, but I wanted to play with them anyway….if our train hadn’t arrived at just about the time that I saw them, I would probably have rabies right now….they were so cute!! Initially when we were given our train seating assignments Celina, Michael and I were assigned to a different car than the rest of our group… as we made our way over to the last car on the train we found ourselves feeling very scared and uncomfortable. The train was a second-class passenger train un air-conditioned and full of locals…many of them sick and kind of sketch. Here we were three little scared and stupid Americans….luckily one of our tour guides came and found us to have us sit with the rest of the SAS kids in a different car. Although the train ride was long and uncomfortable…we were hot, and people kept passing though our car begging for money-it certainly was an experience! One boy came and swept our floor and then begged for some of our funds….I gave him a pack of fruit snacks instead….I hope he liked them….they are my favorites! When we finally got to Agra, we had just enough time to check into our hotel, grab some dinner and hit the sheets.
Day 3 we got to go to the Taj Mahal and see the sun rise. It was amazing. The Taj is huge, and it is beautiful….there were tons of people there both locals and tourists. While we were walking around taking pictures, a local woman approached me and asked if she could take a picture with me….it was so strange because here I was submerged in this whole new culture thinking about how different everyone else is and here I am the one who is really different. I got many stares and questions about where I was from….I guess that most Indians think that Americans are blond haired and blue eyed…..there probably aren’t many Mexicans in India! This scenario happened to me about 3 different times during my time in India. After seeing the sunrise at the Taj, we were able to go to a fort in Agra. I don’t really remember the story or significance of it (how sad), but it was beautiful!! The architecture was amazing and I couldn’t believe all of the detail that was added by hand. In Agra, there are many street vendors who are trying to sell their wares…many of them are children and it is both sad and annoying….a lot of times they would be really pushy and when children were trying to sell their items, I would always feel bad for not buying their little trinkets that cost practically nothing. A few times I gave in, so I have a few random little prizes like key chains that I will need to give away!
Once we left the fort we went to the hotel and had dinner. The food was surprisingly really good. Again, we had those good beans and tortillas! After dinner, we went back to the Taj to see the sun set, and this time we actually got to go inside. There was no flash photography allowed in the Taj, and we had to remove our shoes or put on these hospital booties. They were funny! The Taj has all kinds of amazing detail, and each of the floral designs throughout is composed of small semi-precious stones. I couldn’t believe how intricate the details were. Building the Taj was quite a process….20,000 people were employed for 22 years in order to get it finished. Inside of the Taj, we were able to see the tombs of Sha Jihan and his queen M_____ Jihan. This was really cool, and kind of creepy. After we left the Taj we headed back to our hotel and checked out. We then headed back to the train station to go back to Deli. This train ride was a lot more comfortable than the first. We rode in air conditioned compartments and had our own comfy seats. We were in Deli before we knew it, and proceeded to our hotel. Outside of the train station we saw many sick and diseased people. I saw a man with elephant feet….seriously they were huge. They looked like they were really painful and I felt so sad. People with crippled legs were also in abundance. I think many of them suffered from polio, and it made me sad to know that polio can be prevented with a simple vaccination. This was among the most difficult things that I saw while in India.
Our Deli hotel was really nice and we had really good rooms too! It was Michael’s birthday so we went to the club in our hotel. This was pretty fun, I bought a round of drinks for around 1800 rupees. I didn’t think anything of it until later when I realized that I had spent about $40 on long island ice teas!! I was really sad, but that was Michael’s birthday present. Needless to say I didn’t buy any more beverages that night!
We woke up the next day and headed to the Gandhiji museum. This was really cool and I was disappointed that we weren’t able to stay longer. I didn’t even get a chance to really explore the whole thing. After returning to the hotel for lunch we packed our things and checked out. At the airport I saw a man with a little St. Bernard puppy! This one wasn’t a stray….he was so cute! I just wanted to play with him! The owner was an Indian man and he said that the puppy was only 4 weeks old…his name was Ivan! I loved him!
The plane ride was kind of scary….the air must not have been working properly, and I thought I was going to die of heat stroke…..I have never been so hot and sweaty on a plane….usually I am freezing. This was strange, but we arrived safely and headed back to the ship to get some much needed sleep.
Our last day was rushed and chaotic. We headed to a place called Spencer’s Plaza (a big mall) and again took a crazy rickshaw. Our driver dropped us off on the wrong side of the street, and we spent about 20 minutes standing on a small median in the middle of traffic being scared and fearful for our lives. I was really scared….my legs were even shaking….Some locals finally had to help us to get across. the mall was cool, and I did some serious shopping. We made our way back to the ship and I got to make some last minute phone calls….they were a lot cheaper than just calling from the ship (3 min for $1).
The trip to Malaysia is a short one…we’ll actually be there tomorrow! I am really excited. I have a SAS trip planned and I am going to go and see the Cameron Highlands. I think we will be able to see jungles, waterfalls, and carnivorous plants! Can’t wait!
I love and miss you all very much! ~Val
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Mauritius
HI EVERYONE!
I just got back from Mauritius. It was pretty fun…We only stayed three days, but I was able get a lot done. I participated in two different service visits which were really fun.
On the first day I went to a residence center for children who come from poor and broken homes. Many of the children’s parents are involved with drugs or prostitution. It was sad, but the children were so cute, most of them were between the ages of 2-10, but there were a few older ones too, and they all seemed to be pretty happy. I took along some little prizes….stickers, whistles, cars, dolls, and bubbles to share with them. The kids lived in apartment type buildings in groups of about 8. Each apartment had a home mother and a home auntie. The mothers stay at the home for 2 weeks at a time 24 hours/day and then get to go home to their own families for 2 weeks. While they’re gone, the home aunties are responsible for the kids. It seemed like a pretty good set up, it was clean and like I said, the kids seemed happy. We played with the children for a few hours and had a really good time.
I was also able to eat some really good Chinese food in Mauritius…everything there was really cheap…..We ate at a really nice restaurant for the equivalent of $7 US dollars each. The currency in Mauritius is the Rupee…the exchange rate is about 33 rupees per each US dollar…. So this port was kind of confusing!
On the second day I went to a school in Mauritius. This students who attended this school were kids that were placed in foster care throughout the neighborhood….most of them came from pretty rough backgrounds and so many of them have had severe behavioral problems in the “regular” school system…this is why they now attend the special school that I visited. The students were older…probably aged 11+, except for their pre school kids- these babies are between 2 and 4…they were so cute! While I was there all of the students were incredibly well behaved and polite….All of them were really smart and talented also! I was able to sit in on a music class and I learned how to play a huge drum called La Havan. It is made of goat skin…kind of gross, but also kind of cool! There was a boy who was probably about 15, and he was honestly one of the most talented people I have ever met…He could play the drums piano and guitar. He was really nice and he tried his best to help me play that drum, but I sounded like a female rain man….haha! We also got to play some good London bridge type of game and this other game where everyone holds hands in a circle and then someone is selected to dance in the middle…We had a lot of fun, and I bought a CD that has the songs we danced to so that I can play them later….possibly when I am a teacher. All of the words are in French! French is the language that is spoken most widely throughout Mauritius…some Creole is spoken, but overall it is mostly French - English is also known by many. There are also many Indian’s in Mauritius, so there are temples of worship all throughout the island.
On our last day we made our way over to the beach at Grand Bay. It was really pretty and even though we didn’t have a very sunny day, we still had a good time. The water was kind of cold…but really, really salty! I mean even saltier than usual! This was also my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean….so that was cool!
Mauritius is the home of the Dodo bird…you know like in Alice in Wonderland, but the Portuguese hunted too many of them while they were in Mauritius colonizing and now they are extinct! Mauritius seems to be pretty proud of this factor…as almost every t shirt, magnet and post card had a dodo bird on it!
I did a little bit of shopping at a local market, and bought a few prizes……..I only spent $100 bucks in Mauritius! YES!
Mauritius also has a lot of western influence….there was this restaurant/bar called Shots, and they had different types of sports memorabilia….they even had a Denver Nuggets Jersey hanging on the wall! This place was really modern and cool……they had “Sean”- type of furniture….I thought about him a lot while I was there! We had some drinks and dancing there one night, which was really fun, but for the most part, we didn’t go out very much……we were only there for 2 nights!
Mauritius was a fun port, and I am glad that I got to visit-even if it was just for a few days!
India is next, so if anyone wants anything, let me know ASAP!
I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. I love you, Valerie!
I just got back from Mauritius. It was pretty fun…We only stayed three days, but I was able get a lot done. I participated in two different service visits which were really fun.
On the first day I went to a residence center for children who come from poor and broken homes. Many of the children’s parents are involved with drugs or prostitution. It was sad, but the children were so cute, most of them were between the ages of 2-10, but there were a few older ones too, and they all seemed to be pretty happy. I took along some little prizes….stickers, whistles, cars, dolls, and bubbles to share with them. The kids lived in apartment type buildings in groups of about 8. Each apartment had a home mother and a home auntie. The mothers stay at the home for 2 weeks at a time 24 hours/day and then get to go home to their own families for 2 weeks. While they’re gone, the home aunties are responsible for the kids. It seemed like a pretty good set up, it was clean and like I said, the kids seemed happy. We played with the children for a few hours and had a really good time.
I was also able to eat some really good Chinese food in Mauritius…everything there was really cheap…..We ate at a really nice restaurant for the equivalent of $7 US dollars each. The currency in Mauritius is the Rupee…the exchange rate is about 33 rupees per each US dollar…. So this port was kind of confusing!
On the second day I went to a school in Mauritius. This students who attended this school were kids that were placed in foster care throughout the neighborhood….most of them came from pretty rough backgrounds and so many of them have had severe behavioral problems in the “regular” school system…this is why they now attend the special school that I visited. The students were older…probably aged 11+, except for their pre school kids- these babies are between 2 and 4…they were so cute! While I was there all of the students were incredibly well behaved and polite….All of them were really smart and talented also! I was able to sit in on a music class and I learned how to play a huge drum called La Havan. It is made of goat skin…kind of gross, but also kind of cool! There was a boy who was probably about 15, and he was honestly one of the most talented people I have ever met…He could play the drums piano and guitar. He was really nice and he tried his best to help me play that drum, but I sounded like a female rain man….haha! We also got to play some good London bridge type of game and this other game where everyone holds hands in a circle and then someone is selected to dance in the middle…We had a lot of fun, and I bought a CD that has the songs we danced to so that I can play them later….possibly when I am a teacher. All of the words are in French! French is the language that is spoken most widely throughout Mauritius…some Creole is spoken, but overall it is mostly French - English is also known by many. There are also many Indian’s in Mauritius, so there are temples of worship all throughout the island.
On our last day we made our way over to the beach at Grand Bay. It was really pretty and even though we didn’t have a very sunny day, we still had a good time. The water was kind of cold…but really, really salty! I mean even saltier than usual! This was also my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean….so that was cool!
Mauritius is the home of the Dodo bird…you know like in Alice in Wonderland, but the Portuguese hunted too many of them while they were in Mauritius colonizing and now they are extinct! Mauritius seems to be pretty proud of this factor…as almost every t shirt, magnet and post card had a dodo bird on it!
I did a little bit of shopping at a local market, and bought a few prizes……..I only spent $100 bucks in Mauritius! YES!
Mauritius also has a lot of western influence….there was this restaurant/bar called Shots, and they had different types of sports memorabilia….they even had a Denver Nuggets Jersey hanging on the wall! This place was really modern and cool……they had “Sean”- type of furniture….I thought about him a lot while I was there! We had some drinks and dancing there one night, which was really fun, but for the most part, we didn’t go out very much……we were only there for 2 nights!
Mauritius was a fun port, and I am glad that I got to visit-even if it was just for a few days!
India is next, so if anyone wants anything, let me know ASAP!
I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. I love you, Valerie!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
South Africa
Hello again,
This was another busy week for me on the ship, and I haven’t had a chance to really sit down to write this e mail until now…..South Africa was GREAT!!
We spent about 6 days there, 4 of which I spent on a safari. I had such a great time and got to see several aspects of S. Africa, from the busy city, to the poor townships and even the savanna and wilderness during the safari.
On my first day, I went to the infamous Robben Island, a jail where political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held during the years of the apartheid. The former S. African President spent 27 years of his life in the prison. I was able to see his prison cell and hear about life on Robben Island from a former inmate who now gives tours of the prison. The day of Nelson Mandela’s release, Feb. 11, 1990, is considered to be the day that the apartheid officially ended. Before arriving in South Africa, we discussed some of the history behind apartheid and of South Africa in general. Since the Arch Bishop is a passenger on our ship, he was able to give us very accurate information and share personal stories of his struggles with racial inequality in S. Africa. The island seemed to hold a very important piece of S. African history, and I was glad that I was able to visit.
Later on in the evening, I was able to attend a play at the Cape Town theatre called “Everybody else is F***ing Perfect”. The play itself wasn’t great, but I was glad that I was able to attend. Prior to the actual show, we were introduced to the play’s director and creator, who shared with us her inspiration behind the play. We also got some free snacks! They were pretty good-mostly finger foods and free wine!
The night consisted of going out to a local night club on Long Street. I didn’t enjoy myself very much on this night simply because I was again forced to realize my new phobia of being trapped with too many people. In the club, we couldn’t even move….it was hot and people were even climbing on top of other people to try and get out. Needless to say, I didn’t stay there for very long.
On the second day, we met up with a friend of Jazmin and Mando’s who they met during their voyage a few years ago. His name was Gerald, and he was a pretty nice guy. He took us riding through various townships giving us information about them along the way. He introduced us to some of his friends and we spent the day meeting some of the locals and drinking beer together. I don’t even like beer, but we drank a lot of it that day! There is an apple cider beer in S. Africa called Savanna Dry….it isn’t great, but it is way better than any other beer I’ve ever had! We got to taste some of the local food from this trailer in one of the townships- I think it was Cailisha (?)- the town, not the food. The food reminded me of posole kind of…..it was boiled corn mixed with beans….it was pretty good….but I was kind of scared to eat it.
Gerald also took us to this butchery called Maphindi’s and we ordered a huge cookie sheet of just meat…..lamb, beef, pork, it was sooo good! We ate it with a loaf of bread and some cokes! We had a lot of fun. Gerald also took us to a local music store so that we could purchase some S. African tunes…the music we got is called Kwaito….a S. African form of hip-hop.
On day 3 we left for our Safari in a town that I think was just outside of Swaziland. The actual game reserve was called Mthethomusha but we were headed for the Bongoni Lodge. Most of our day was spent traveling, we had a stopover in Johanasberg, but we weren’t allowed to get off of the plane. When we finally arrived at our reserve, a huge 10-seater Land Rover with no roof came and picked us up. Almost immediately I saw giraffes and Zebras. The drive to the actual lodge took about 10-15 minutes, but when we finally arrived, I was more than impressed. Each of us had our very own cabin-equipped with 2 beds, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room. They were very modern looking without being overdone….we still felt like we were on safari….and there were little lizards that went in and out of our cabins as they pleased-kind of scary, but kind of cool too!
On our evening game drive that day we were able to see Nala, Impala, and Kudu which are three different types of antelope…..they’re kind of like the “squirrels” of the safari- they are everywhere, but still really neat to watch. We also saw some White Rhinos. They were huge and we were able to get really, really close to them. Our guide/driver (named Nelson) and his assistant (–who we called Wonder Boy) were both really knowledgeable. They were funny and very personable and we absolutely loved them…..we had the best Land Rover group by far! Each day we took 2 game drives and the people in our car always stayed the same, so we were all able to get pretty close. On our morning drives, which began at 6am, we would take a break from our animal searching and would have some tea and biscuits before heading back for breakfast-which by the way was AMAZING. On our evening game drives, we would always end by having mixed drinks overlooking the reserve and watching the sun go down before heading back for dinner. It was always really beautiful and I was able to see the stars like I have never seen them before!
Dinner was always delicious! Each night we had a different soup and they were by far the best soups that I have ever had. Tomato Bisque, Lentil, and Corn Chowder- Soooo good!
Day 4’s morning game drive brought us to my most favorite animal of all time…(besides puppies) elephants!! I don’t think I ever really knew how much I loved them! We had to go searching for them by following their dung….Nelson and Wonder Boy lead the way. When we finally found them, we only saw one…he was huge and was grazing on different trees and grass. I got some good video footage of him….as we were getting ready to leave, someone in our car spotted some movement in the bushes. We headed over that way and all of a sudden a huge herd of elephants were right in front of us….baby elephants, and about 3 fully grown ones were literally right in front of the car! It was so neat…..I wasn’t expecting to see them and I had just put my camera away…..I tried to fumble around and get it back out but they were gone just as quickly as they appeared.
This was my most favorite experience, but I only have a mental picture to show for it….
We also saw a 2 female and 1 male lion cub, but they were older so they weren’t very small, and a huge male lion laying on a rock! We had our tea and biscuits and headed back to the lodge.
During the afternoon we were able to go on an excursion to see a nearby village. We stopped at a small shop with different arts and crafts. I bought a beautiful wooden bracelet. We also stopped by an elementary school. The children were so cute and they were really excited to see us. I took several pictures of them….they all wanted to see themselves in our cameras, so I wore out my battery showing them pictures of themselves. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at a home in the village and got to see some of the people perform traditional African dances for us.
The afternoon game hunt lead us to see zebras, giraffes, impala, kudu, and nala. We stopped to look at a traditional fruit that Elephants frequently eat, the Amarulla fruit- We picked some up right off of the ground and ate them…they were good! Nelson told us that the fruit was used to make a South African liquor called Amarulla. We also began the search for a leopard. After our evening drink stop, we were able to see a huge owl. He was really neat.
In the morning on day 5 we went to see the hippos. We had to go on a 20 minute drive until we reached a river that was known for having hippos. Also in the river we were able to see a crocodile…although it was really really far away! This river was located near a park with a playground. The equipment was all in good condition, but was the kind that we don’t see in the states anymore….sea-saw, merry go round, etc. Celina and I hopped on the sea-saw for old times sake….it was fun! In the evening Nelson drove us around really fast, just like for wheeling only we were going through trees, shrubs, and thorns really quickly with an open top. It was like a jungle roller coaster! Along the way we saw buffalo, monkeys (they liked to hang out near the lodge), a warthog, nala, impala, and kudu, a buffalo carcass and more lions who had just been feeding. This was really neat to see also!
Our last day on safari was bitter sweet. We’d had such a great time, and had grown very close to Nelson and Wonder boy. We set out for the last time-really in search of the leopard, but had no such luck…..we did see more rhinos, this time they were even bigger than before….HUGE!! as well as the “3 safari squirrels”, another lion and a huge heard of buffalo……go buffs!
Overall our safari was great! We got Nelson’s e mail address and he promised to show us around if we ever returned to S. Africa.
The plane ride home was kind of scary….lots of turbulence.
We had dinner at a restaurant called the Ocean’s Basket and made friends with the waiter. He recommended great snacks and the food was good and affordable!
On our last day in Cape Town, we just did some shopping, I visited a little market and bought a few odds and ends. I ended up buying a bottle of that Amarulla and I tried to ship it home (because we aren’t allowed to bring liquor onto the ship) but when I got to the post office they told me that they were out of both boxes and bubble wrap! So I was stuck with this huge bottle of alcohol!
We decided to have dinner at Ocean’s Basket again and got to meet up with our waiter friend Clive who is originally from Zimbabwe. I told him about my predicament and he offered to send the bottle home for me when the post office got more boxes and bubble wrap (The post office is in the mall, as is the restaurant). I agreed and gave him $ for postage and left my home address and the bottle in his care……we’ll see if it ever gets there…..I hope it will, but you never know.
Now I am waiting for our ship to arrive in Mauritius. We should be there tomorrow afternoon….well at 12:00pm exactly. I am ten hours ahead of you all in Denver so if I call, it might be at a really random time!
I miss you all very much and am thinking and praying for you every day!
See you soon! ~Valerie
This was another busy week for me on the ship, and I haven’t had a chance to really sit down to write this e mail until now…..South Africa was GREAT!!
We spent about 6 days there, 4 of which I spent on a safari. I had such a great time and got to see several aspects of S. Africa, from the busy city, to the poor townships and even the savanna and wilderness during the safari.
On my first day, I went to the infamous Robben Island, a jail where political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held during the years of the apartheid. The former S. African President spent 27 years of his life in the prison. I was able to see his prison cell and hear about life on Robben Island from a former inmate who now gives tours of the prison. The day of Nelson Mandela’s release, Feb. 11, 1990, is considered to be the day that the apartheid officially ended. Before arriving in South Africa, we discussed some of the history behind apartheid and of South Africa in general. Since the Arch Bishop is a passenger on our ship, he was able to give us very accurate information and share personal stories of his struggles with racial inequality in S. Africa. The island seemed to hold a very important piece of S. African history, and I was glad that I was able to visit.
Later on in the evening, I was able to attend a play at the Cape Town theatre called “Everybody else is F***ing Perfect”. The play itself wasn’t great, but I was glad that I was able to attend. Prior to the actual show, we were introduced to the play’s director and creator, who shared with us her inspiration behind the play. We also got some free snacks! They were pretty good-mostly finger foods and free wine!
The night consisted of going out to a local night club on Long Street. I didn’t enjoy myself very much on this night simply because I was again forced to realize my new phobia of being trapped with too many people. In the club, we couldn’t even move….it was hot and people were even climbing on top of other people to try and get out. Needless to say, I didn’t stay there for very long.
On the second day, we met up with a friend of Jazmin and Mando’s who they met during their voyage a few years ago. His name was Gerald, and he was a pretty nice guy. He took us riding through various townships giving us information about them along the way. He introduced us to some of his friends and we spent the day meeting some of the locals and drinking beer together. I don’t even like beer, but we drank a lot of it that day! There is an apple cider beer in S. Africa called Savanna Dry….it isn’t great, but it is way better than any other beer I’ve ever had! We got to taste some of the local food from this trailer in one of the townships- I think it was Cailisha (?)- the town, not the food. The food reminded me of posole kind of…..it was boiled corn mixed with beans….it was pretty good….but I was kind of scared to eat it.
Gerald also took us to this butchery called Maphindi’s and we ordered a huge cookie sheet of just meat…..lamb, beef, pork, it was sooo good! We ate it with a loaf of bread and some cokes! We had a lot of fun. Gerald also took us to a local music store so that we could purchase some S. African tunes…the music we got is called Kwaito….a S. African form of hip-hop.
On day 3 we left for our Safari in a town that I think was just outside of Swaziland. The actual game reserve was called Mthethomusha but we were headed for the Bongoni Lodge. Most of our day was spent traveling, we had a stopover in Johanasberg, but we weren’t allowed to get off of the plane. When we finally arrived at our reserve, a huge 10-seater Land Rover with no roof came and picked us up. Almost immediately I saw giraffes and Zebras. The drive to the actual lodge took about 10-15 minutes, but when we finally arrived, I was more than impressed. Each of us had our very own cabin-equipped with 2 beds, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room. They were very modern looking without being overdone….we still felt like we were on safari….and there were little lizards that went in and out of our cabins as they pleased-kind of scary, but kind of cool too!
On our evening game drive that day we were able to see Nala, Impala, and Kudu which are three different types of antelope…..they’re kind of like the “squirrels” of the safari- they are everywhere, but still really neat to watch. We also saw some White Rhinos. They were huge and we were able to get really, really close to them. Our guide/driver (named Nelson) and his assistant (–who we called Wonder Boy) were both really knowledgeable. They were funny and very personable and we absolutely loved them…..we had the best Land Rover group by far! Each day we took 2 game drives and the people in our car always stayed the same, so we were all able to get pretty close. On our morning drives, which began at 6am, we would take a break from our animal searching and would have some tea and biscuits before heading back for breakfast-which by the way was AMAZING. On our evening game drives, we would always end by having mixed drinks overlooking the reserve and watching the sun go down before heading back for dinner. It was always really beautiful and I was able to see the stars like I have never seen them before!
Dinner was always delicious! Each night we had a different soup and they were by far the best soups that I have ever had. Tomato Bisque, Lentil, and Corn Chowder- Soooo good!
Day 4’s morning game drive brought us to my most favorite animal of all time…(besides puppies) elephants!! I don’t think I ever really knew how much I loved them! We had to go searching for them by following their dung….Nelson and Wonder Boy lead the way. When we finally found them, we only saw one…he was huge and was grazing on different trees and grass. I got some good video footage of him….as we were getting ready to leave, someone in our car spotted some movement in the bushes. We headed over that way and all of a sudden a huge herd of elephants were right in front of us….baby elephants, and about 3 fully grown ones were literally right in front of the car! It was so neat…..I wasn’t expecting to see them and I had just put my camera away…..I tried to fumble around and get it back out but they were gone just as quickly as they appeared.
This was my most favorite experience, but I only have a mental picture to show for it….
We also saw a 2 female and 1 male lion cub, but they were older so they weren’t very small, and a huge male lion laying on a rock! We had our tea and biscuits and headed back to the lodge.
During the afternoon we were able to go on an excursion to see a nearby village. We stopped at a small shop with different arts and crafts. I bought a beautiful wooden bracelet. We also stopped by an elementary school. The children were so cute and they were really excited to see us. I took several pictures of them….they all wanted to see themselves in our cameras, so I wore out my battery showing them pictures of themselves. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at a home in the village and got to see some of the people perform traditional African dances for us.
The afternoon game hunt lead us to see zebras, giraffes, impala, kudu, and nala. We stopped to look at a traditional fruit that Elephants frequently eat, the Amarulla fruit- We picked some up right off of the ground and ate them…they were good! Nelson told us that the fruit was used to make a South African liquor called Amarulla. We also began the search for a leopard. After our evening drink stop, we were able to see a huge owl. He was really neat.
In the morning on day 5 we went to see the hippos. We had to go on a 20 minute drive until we reached a river that was known for having hippos. Also in the river we were able to see a crocodile…although it was really really far away! This river was located near a park with a playground. The equipment was all in good condition, but was the kind that we don’t see in the states anymore….sea-saw, merry go round, etc. Celina and I hopped on the sea-saw for old times sake….it was fun! In the evening Nelson drove us around really fast, just like for wheeling only we were going through trees, shrubs, and thorns really quickly with an open top. It was like a jungle roller coaster! Along the way we saw buffalo, monkeys (they liked to hang out near the lodge), a warthog, nala, impala, and kudu, a buffalo carcass and more lions who had just been feeding. This was really neat to see also!
Our last day on safari was bitter sweet. We’d had such a great time, and had grown very close to Nelson and Wonder boy. We set out for the last time-really in search of the leopard, but had no such luck…..we did see more rhinos, this time they were even bigger than before….HUGE!! as well as the “3 safari squirrels”, another lion and a huge heard of buffalo……go buffs!
Overall our safari was great! We got Nelson’s e mail address and he promised to show us around if we ever returned to S. Africa.
The plane ride home was kind of scary….lots of turbulence.
We had dinner at a restaurant called the Ocean’s Basket and made friends with the waiter. He recommended great snacks and the food was good and affordable!
On our last day in Cape Town, we just did some shopping, I visited a little market and bought a few odds and ends. I ended up buying a bottle of that Amarulla and I tried to ship it home (because we aren’t allowed to bring liquor onto the ship) but when I got to the post office they told me that they were out of both boxes and bubble wrap! So I was stuck with this huge bottle of alcohol!
We decided to have dinner at Ocean’s Basket again and got to meet up with our waiter friend Clive who is originally from Zimbabwe. I told him about my predicament and he offered to send the bottle home for me when the post office got more boxes and bubble wrap (The post office is in the mall, as is the restaurant). I agreed and gave him $ for postage and left my home address and the bottle in his care……we’ll see if it ever gets there…..I hope it will, but you never know.
Now I am waiting for our ship to arrive in Mauritius. We should be there tomorrow afternoon….well at 12:00pm exactly. I am ten hours ahead of you all in Denver so if I call, it might be at a really random time!
I miss you all very much and am thinking and praying for you every day!
See you soon! ~Valerie
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Hello everybody!
Sorry it has taken so long to update, this has been a very hectic week for me. I had had to write 4 papers, take 2 exams and do a presentation.
Brazil was, in a nutshell, “crazy”. Carnival was going on the entire time that we were there, so we didn’t get to do a lot of the “touristy” stuff because the whole city pretty much closes down.
The weather in Salvador (Brazil’s capital city) was really hot….it is very humid there and for the most part, it was pretty sunny. Additionally, the city is very dirty. The first thing that I saw when I got off of the boat was a dead black mouse, also, people urinate everywhere….I saw this throughout my entire stay in Brazil…Because it is carnival, there are porto- potties everywhere and this still did not help with the public urination problem.
Brazil (as with any other country) can also be a bit dangerous…especially for tourists who aren’t careful. On our first day there, a group of girls were robbed at knife point….their cameras and wallets were taken, but aside from being shaken up, they were ok. Not to make Brazil seem all bad…..we had a lot of fun here, I just don’t have many pics to show because I hardly ever took my camera…….a decision I really regret!
Day one:
Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted by wonderful live music and Brazilian women who were dressed in very elaborate traditional costumes. They gave each of us a “wish bracelet”….these bracelets are given as gifts all over Brazil…once they are around your wrist they are tied in 3 knots. You are supposed to make a wish for each of the knots and then let the bracelet fall off on its own. When that happens, your wishes will come true.
We then made our way to the Mercado Modello. We did some shopping and had lunch…a strange shrimp stew type of dish with beans and rice. We were also able to watch some capoeira dancers. Capoeira is a type of martial art from Africa that had to be disguised as a dance when the people of Africa were brought across the Atlantic and enslaved. It is really neat to watch. On the back side of the market are more venders trying to sell their wares…As we browsed around looking at the various things, we were approached by some traditionally dressed barefoot women who took our hands and wrapped them around the beads that they wore around their necks………they began saying some kind of prayers or blessings and then tried to hand us some small wooden chips from inside of their coin purses…we didn’t want to accept them, and the women became were very aggressive insisting that we take them and then pay them money. This was really scary because they were speaking in Portuguese with elevated tones and I surely didn’t want to pay these women any money….Finally my roommate gave the women a $5 bill but they still wanted more…I refused to pay and finally the women walked away angry- then I was scared that they had put a curse on me and so I had to say my prayers!
I didn’t end up going out on day 1 so I returned to the ship and got some much needed rest.
Day two
On day two, we went to a different market in the upper part of town…you can either take the elevator (a huge elevator that takes people from the lower city to the upper city…it costs one “real” which is the currency in Brazil. One real is equivalent to about .50 US. ) or taking a taxi, which is what we did. We got to do some more shopping and seeing the city. Brazil has beautiful architecture the buildings are all really beautiful, but also extremely run down….everywhere you looked you saw broken windows, chipped paint, and crumbling walls. The upper city is where a lot of the Carnival action happens. The clean up crew does a pretty good job of cleaning up the garbage from the previous night’s festivities-which is good because it gets really dirty! While we were shopping we got stuck in a massive rain storm and had to take shelter underneath a woman’s dress…….actually it was a huge umbrella that looked like a woman’s dress. It was really funny! In the evening, we went to Baha, another city in Brazil where carnival is celebrated. Baha reminded me of the Taste of Colorado a little bit. There were vendors everywhere selling food, crafts, and beer…..SKULL is the official beer in Brazil….I don’t like beer, but this one wasn’t that bad! I also bought some good .25 earrings….they are really pretty for only a quarter!
Later we made our way back to the upper city and went to a reggae club where we met a local named Zek. He was really nice and he danced with us all night long….he seemed to get along really well with Greg and Sam (two guy friends of mine). Outside the club we were waiting for some of the group to use the bathrooms and this little boy dressed in a huge baggy t shirt and sunglasses came up to us….we thought he wanted money, but instead he just started dancing with us and showing us all his moves. He was really funny. He couldn’t have been more than 9 years old. He had no shoes on and was clearly very poor. We danced with him for a while and then when it was time to go we gave him some of our extra cash. He looked surprised, but accepted it and gave us the “thumbs up” sign, in Brazil the “ok” sign is equivalent to the “F” word!
Day three:
We kind of wasted the day today. We woke up late and then went to lay out on the pool deck. We were able to catch a few rays before coming in for lunch…later on in the evening we met in the union of the ship to get ready for our carnival experience. We were participating in the Afros Blocos Carnival. The Afros Blocos are traditionally an African group which represents each year in the Carnival parade. We were given traditional costumes, which were blue and white and very authentic…….they were kind of funny, we had to wear little bennie caps with red feathers sticking out. We danced all night long in the parade to some great African drums and music. All over carnival, boys walk around with beads and give them to girls who give them kisses in return….A cute boy tried to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let him…I covered my mouth and ran…..it was funny! On this night we stopped to eat from one of the street vendors….we had a huge burger called a CALABREZA….it had sausage, egg, ham, corn, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, cheese and hamburger….and a whole lot of grease……they were sooooooo good!
Day four:
We woke up and headed to Flamingo Beach…it wasn’t very sunny, but it was nice enough….we laid out our towels and stuff and settled down. After a while, I began taking a small nap…the space between the ocean and the beach wasn’t very large, and the tide had already started coming up by the time we got there. A few minutes into my nap, I was awakened by shreeks and a rush of cold water….the tide came and washed us away…..I jumped up and saw my shoes being carried back to the ocean, so I started running to grab them and ended up falling into the ocean and getting even more wet. It was really funny! These Brazilian people next to us laughed and laughed because we acted so crazy!
Now that we were nice and wet……everything, our shoes, clothes, towels, purses, everything…we decided it was time to go home. We packed up and headed back to the ship. Later on that evening, we attended another carnival celebration this one was called the trio electrico. It was crazier than the Bloco carnival. We got to dance to more pop sounding music, and again we were in the parade. There were so many people in this particular group, and every little while people would start pushing and we would get pushed around for a little while…it was kind of fun, but also kind of scary. We ended up meeting this nice Brazilian named Andre who helped watch over us and keep our group together. Later, Adrienne exchanged e mail addresses with him….it’s funny because he speaks only Portuguese and she speaks only English….even more funny is the fact that they actually had an internet conversation a few days after we left.
This carnival reminded me of NYC on New Years (well at least from what I’ve seen) we got to dance though all this silver confetti and people were in buildings and along the streets cheering us on! It was lots of fun.
Day five:
Today we left Brazil, Today we were supposed to have beach day but it was raining! So instead, we made one last trip to the market, and I made some last minute phone calls home and sent post cards…nothing too exciting. Over all Brazil was a lot of fun…I would have liked to see Rio….I have heard really great things about Rio and how beautiful it is there. I also wish I could have seen more of the sights and had a better beach day…..there are supposedly some really pretty beaches and we missed out on them…things to remember if I ever come back!!!
This week The Archbishop spoke to us in class, he is so cute and funny! He reminds me of a little old grandpa....everyone knows how much I love little old men! Everything he says is so profound and wise. He is a really good person, and I feel very lucky that I have been able to hear him speak. I thought I would be more intimidated by him, but his personality is so fun and laid back....I really like him!
I will arrive in Cape Town S. Africa in less than 8 hours, and I am so excited, I will be going on a 4 day safari and will also visit Robben Island to see the jail cell of Nelson Mandela, so that should be neat.
I can’t wait to see what the other countries have in store! I miss everybody and love you all very much!
Next stop- Cape Town S. Africa…..
~Valerie
Sorry it has taken so long to update, this has been a very hectic week for me. I had had to write 4 papers, take 2 exams and do a presentation.
Brazil was, in a nutshell, “crazy”. Carnival was going on the entire time that we were there, so we didn’t get to do a lot of the “touristy” stuff because the whole city pretty much closes down.
The weather in Salvador (Brazil’s capital city) was really hot….it is very humid there and for the most part, it was pretty sunny. Additionally, the city is very dirty. The first thing that I saw when I got off of the boat was a dead black mouse, also, people urinate everywhere….I saw this throughout my entire stay in Brazil…Because it is carnival, there are porto- potties everywhere and this still did not help with the public urination problem.
Brazil (as with any other country) can also be a bit dangerous…especially for tourists who aren’t careful. On our first day there, a group of girls were robbed at knife point….their cameras and wallets were taken, but aside from being shaken up, they were ok. Not to make Brazil seem all bad…..we had a lot of fun here, I just don’t have many pics to show because I hardly ever took my camera…….a decision I really regret!
Day one:
Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted by wonderful live music and Brazilian women who were dressed in very elaborate traditional costumes. They gave each of us a “wish bracelet”….these bracelets are given as gifts all over Brazil…once they are around your wrist they are tied in 3 knots. You are supposed to make a wish for each of the knots and then let the bracelet fall off on its own. When that happens, your wishes will come true.
We then made our way to the Mercado Modello. We did some shopping and had lunch…a strange shrimp stew type of dish with beans and rice. We were also able to watch some capoeira dancers. Capoeira is a type of martial art from Africa that had to be disguised as a dance when the people of Africa were brought across the Atlantic and enslaved. It is really neat to watch. On the back side of the market are more venders trying to sell their wares…As we browsed around looking at the various things, we were approached by some traditionally dressed barefoot women who took our hands and wrapped them around the beads that they wore around their necks………they began saying some kind of prayers or blessings and then tried to hand us some small wooden chips from inside of their coin purses…we didn’t want to accept them, and the women became were very aggressive insisting that we take them and then pay them money. This was really scary because they were speaking in Portuguese with elevated tones and I surely didn’t want to pay these women any money….Finally my roommate gave the women a $5 bill but they still wanted more…I refused to pay and finally the women walked away angry- then I was scared that they had put a curse on me and so I had to say my prayers!
I didn’t end up going out on day 1 so I returned to the ship and got some much needed rest.
Day two
On day two, we went to a different market in the upper part of town…you can either take the elevator (a huge elevator that takes people from the lower city to the upper city…it costs one “real” which is the currency in Brazil. One real is equivalent to about .50 US. ) or taking a taxi, which is what we did. We got to do some more shopping and seeing the city. Brazil has beautiful architecture the buildings are all really beautiful, but also extremely run down….everywhere you looked you saw broken windows, chipped paint, and crumbling walls. The upper city is where a lot of the Carnival action happens. The clean up crew does a pretty good job of cleaning up the garbage from the previous night’s festivities-which is good because it gets really dirty! While we were shopping we got stuck in a massive rain storm and had to take shelter underneath a woman’s dress…….actually it was a huge umbrella that looked like a woman’s dress. It was really funny! In the evening, we went to Baha, another city in Brazil where carnival is celebrated. Baha reminded me of the Taste of Colorado a little bit. There were vendors everywhere selling food, crafts, and beer…..SKULL is the official beer in Brazil….I don’t like beer, but this one wasn’t that bad! I also bought some good .25 earrings….they are really pretty for only a quarter!
Later we made our way back to the upper city and went to a reggae club where we met a local named Zek. He was really nice and he danced with us all night long….he seemed to get along really well with Greg and Sam (two guy friends of mine). Outside the club we were waiting for some of the group to use the bathrooms and this little boy dressed in a huge baggy t shirt and sunglasses came up to us….we thought he wanted money, but instead he just started dancing with us and showing us all his moves. He was really funny. He couldn’t have been more than 9 years old. He had no shoes on and was clearly very poor. We danced with him for a while and then when it was time to go we gave him some of our extra cash. He looked surprised, but accepted it and gave us the “thumbs up” sign, in Brazil the “ok” sign is equivalent to the “F” word!
Day three:
We kind of wasted the day today. We woke up late and then went to lay out on the pool deck. We were able to catch a few rays before coming in for lunch…later on in the evening we met in the union of the ship to get ready for our carnival experience. We were participating in the Afros Blocos Carnival. The Afros Blocos are traditionally an African group which represents each year in the Carnival parade. We were given traditional costumes, which were blue and white and very authentic…….they were kind of funny, we had to wear little bennie caps with red feathers sticking out. We danced all night long in the parade to some great African drums and music. All over carnival, boys walk around with beads and give them to girls who give them kisses in return….A cute boy tried to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let him…I covered my mouth and ran…..it was funny! On this night we stopped to eat from one of the street vendors….we had a huge burger called a CALABREZA….it had sausage, egg, ham, corn, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, cheese and hamburger….and a whole lot of grease……they were sooooooo good!
Day four:
We woke up and headed to Flamingo Beach…it wasn’t very sunny, but it was nice enough….we laid out our towels and stuff and settled down. After a while, I began taking a small nap…the space between the ocean and the beach wasn’t very large, and the tide had already started coming up by the time we got there. A few minutes into my nap, I was awakened by shreeks and a rush of cold water….the tide came and washed us away…..I jumped up and saw my shoes being carried back to the ocean, so I started running to grab them and ended up falling into the ocean and getting even more wet. It was really funny! These Brazilian people next to us laughed and laughed because we acted so crazy!
Now that we were nice and wet……everything, our shoes, clothes, towels, purses, everything…we decided it was time to go home. We packed up and headed back to the ship. Later on that evening, we attended another carnival celebration this one was called the trio electrico. It was crazier than the Bloco carnival. We got to dance to more pop sounding music, and again we were in the parade. There were so many people in this particular group, and every little while people would start pushing and we would get pushed around for a little while…it was kind of fun, but also kind of scary. We ended up meeting this nice Brazilian named Andre who helped watch over us and keep our group together. Later, Adrienne exchanged e mail addresses with him….it’s funny because he speaks only Portuguese and she speaks only English….even more funny is the fact that they actually had an internet conversation a few days after we left.
This carnival reminded me of NYC on New Years (well at least from what I’ve seen) we got to dance though all this silver confetti and people were in buildings and along the streets cheering us on! It was lots of fun.
Day five:
Today we left Brazil, Today we were supposed to have beach day but it was raining! So instead, we made one last trip to the market, and I made some last minute phone calls home and sent post cards…nothing too exciting. Over all Brazil was a lot of fun…I would have liked to see Rio….I have heard really great things about Rio and how beautiful it is there. I also wish I could have seen more of the sights and had a better beach day…..there are supposedly some really pretty beaches and we missed out on them…things to remember if I ever come back!!!
This week The Archbishop spoke to us in class, he is so cute and funny! He reminds me of a little old grandpa....everyone knows how much I love little old men! Everything he says is so profound and wise. He is a really good person, and I feel very lucky that I have been able to hear him speak. I thought I would be more intimidated by him, but his personality is so fun and laid back....I really like him!
I will arrive in Cape Town S. Africa in less than 8 hours, and I am so excited, I will be going on a 4 day safari and will also visit Robben Island to see the jail cell of Nelson Mandela, so that should be neat.
I can’t wait to see what the other countries have in store! I miss everybody and love you all very much!
Next stop- Cape Town S. Africa…..
~Valerie
Monday, February 12, 2007
Hello Everybody!!
I just finished my trip in Puerto Rico, and I must say that it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I enjoyed myself so much and am definitely planning on going back there! We arrived in San Juan on Wednesday, and left on Friday evening. In my three days I did several fun and interesting things.
Wednesday I participated in an art tour to see the work and personal home of Samuel Lind who is a well-known Puerto Rican artist. He is very well known in PR and sells a great deal of his pieces and work in the states! After this tour I was able to sit down and enjoy a traditional Puerto Rican dish…..Rice with Crab! It was interesting to say the least…..kind of good, but the crab still had lots of its shell which I then had to pick out of my mouth and teeth…….not so good! This lunch took up about 2 ½ hours……..way too long, but I guess this is just another cultural difference….in the states we are always in such a big hurry to get things done, and in PR (and probably many other places) people take the time to just sit back and enjoy each other’s company………I can appreciate this, but 2 ½ hours is still too long for me. After lunch, I was able to do some shopping around old San Juan. The buildings and architecture in PR is beautiful…The streets are made of a blue cobblestone and the buildings are all painted beautiful colors! In the evening I participated in a welcome ceremony given to the SAS students by college students at the University of the Caribbean. There, we were able to see some traditional PR dancers, listen to authentic music and eat delicious PR food! After a few hours at Sr. Frogs, I was ready to come back to the ship and sleep!
Day 2 was for the most part a shopping day….I did manage to tour some of the beautiful forts here in PR like Fort Cristobal….The scenery here is so beautiful….the water is a clear turquoise and the weather can’t be beat! I was also able to visit one of the catholic churches in old San Juan….It was beautiful, and I was also able to meet a missionary named Hilberto who was born in San Juan, but lived in New York for most of his life. After scolding us (my roomie Celina and I) for not being able to speak “our” language, he told us about some of the work that he has done and about some of the people he works with in San Juan. This visit was very refreshing for my spirit and I was glad that I was able to visit Hilberto and his church!
Day 3 consisted of BEACH DAY!! WOO HOO!! We went to a beach called Isla Verde, and had a great time tanning and swimming in the warm and beautiful ocean! I loved it there…We ended up getting a little sun burned, but eh’ oh well it will turn to tan eventually! :) We had dinner at an authentic PR restaurant and it was delicious! I had some shrimp and rice and beans (my favorite). I am surprised at how expensive Shrimp is in different countries….One would think that being closer to the Shore and having a greater supply of it, that it would be less expensive…..hmmmmmmmmmm………
Since PR is part of the US (kind of…it gets complicated) I was able to call home and talk to the fam and to Seany boy! PR is a great vacation place because it is tropical, full of culture, yet still convenient, as most people speak English and the currency is the US dollar!
I am now in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean near the lesser Antilles…..for the next 5 days…..I have been feeling the rocking of the ocean really bad today, and am scared because when we reach S. Africa, we are supposed to hit some really choppy waters!
I finally have my schedule figured out, and I like my classes for the most part! I have soooo much homework though……..I feel kind of overwhelmed and like I won’t have enough time to do it! Otherwise everything is going well! I was able to sign up for some more trips for Cape Town, Port Lewis, Chennai, and Penang. I also signed up for the Great Wall trip….no body wanted to go with me, so I guess I’m on my own for that one! Scarry!! The ship food is kind of WOMP, but yesterday was taco day!! It was soooo good! I love taco day! I guess I am going to try and get some more homework finished now! I hope all is well at home! I miss you all and love you very much!
~Val
I just finished my trip in Puerto Rico, and I must say that it is BEAUTIFUL!!! I enjoyed myself so much and am definitely planning on going back there! We arrived in San Juan on Wednesday, and left on Friday evening. In my three days I did several fun and interesting things.
Wednesday I participated in an art tour to see the work and personal home of Samuel Lind who is a well-known Puerto Rican artist. He is very well known in PR and sells a great deal of his pieces and work in the states! After this tour I was able to sit down and enjoy a traditional Puerto Rican dish…..Rice with Crab! It was interesting to say the least…..kind of good, but the crab still had lots of its shell which I then had to pick out of my mouth and teeth…….not so good! This lunch took up about 2 ½ hours……..way too long, but I guess this is just another cultural difference….in the states we are always in such a big hurry to get things done, and in PR (and probably many other places) people take the time to just sit back and enjoy each other’s company………I can appreciate this, but 2 ½ hours is still too long for me. After lunch, I was able to do some shopping around old San Juan. The buildings and architecture in PR is beautiful…The streets are made of a blue cobblestone and the buildings are all painted beautiful colors! In the evening I participated in a welcome ceremony given to the SAS students by college students at the University of the Caribbean. There, we were able to see some traditional PR dancers, listen to authentic music and eat delicious PR food! After a few hours at Sr. Frogs, I was ready to come back to the ship and sleep!
Day 2 was for the most part a shopping day….I did manage to tour some of the beautiful forts here in PR like Fort Cristobal….The scenery here is so beautiful….the water is a clear turquoise and the weather can’t be beat! I was also able to visit one of the catholic churches in old San Juan….It was beautiful, and I was also able to meet a missionary named Hilberto who was born in San Juan, but lived in New York for most of his life. After scolding us (my roomie Celina and I) for not being able to speak “our” language, he told us about some of the work that he has done and about some of the people he works with in San Juan. This visit was very refreshing for my spirit and I was glad that I was able to visit Hilberto and his church!
Day 3 consisted of BEACH DAY!! WOO HOO!! We went to a beach called Isla Verde, and had a great time tanning and swimming in the warm and beautiful ocean! I loved it there…We ended up getting a little sun burned, but eh’ oh well it will turn to tan eventually! :) We had dinner at an authentic PR restaurant and it was delicious! I had some shrimp and rice and beans (my favorite). I am surprised at how expensive Shrimp is in different countries….One would think that being closer to the Shore and having a greater supply of it, that it would be less expensive…..hmmmmmmmmmm………
Since PR is part of the US (kind of…it gets complicated) I was able to call home and talk to the fam and to Seany boy! PR is a great vacation place because it is tropical, full of culture, yet still convenient, as most people speak English and the currency is the US dollar!
I am now in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean near the lesser Antilles…..for the next 5 days…..I have been feeling the rocking of the ocean really bad today, and am scared because when we reach S. Africa, we are supposed to hit some really choppy waters!
I finally have my schedule figured out, and I like my classes for the most part! I have soooo much homework though……..I feel kind of overwhelmed and like I won’t have enough time to do it! Otherwise everything is going well! I was able to sign up for some more trips for Cape Town, Port Lewis, Chennai, and Penang. I also signed up for the Great Wall trip….no body wanted to go with me, so I guess I’m on my own for that one! Scarry!! The ship food is kind of WOMP, but yesterday was taco day!! It was soooo good! I love taco day! I guess I am going to try and get some more homework finished now! I hope all is well at home! I miss you all and love you very much!
~Val
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Hello All!
I am writing from the SAS Ship the MV Explorer!! So far, ship life is ok…..I can feel the ship moving a lot more than I thought I would be able to, but no real sea sickness yet! I miss you all more than you can imagine! On the ship, the time changes all the time, and today the clock needed to be set ahead by an hour, and I had thought that I had set my clock ahead…..turns out I didn't and I ended up sleeping in and missing my first class! Ops! Today we were able to go out on the deck and catch some sun….everyone here on the boat is super skinny and super sun-tanned! So I felt even more fat and pale than usual.. :( I had my first Comm. class today, and so far I think that I am really going to like it! I am getting along well with my roomie so far, and am glad that I know some folks here on the ship already……..It seems like a lot of people came with people that they already knew, but still I am trying to meet new people. Today I also purchased a SAS sweat shirt…….because of its high price tag…$46.00, I think that it will be my only souvenir from the ship! On the boat, we never exchange real money…….everything gets charged to your own personal ship ID card. I think this is extremely dangerous because we never feel like we are spending money and so we can accumulate a large bill in a very short while. Aside from the usual dining hall food, we can purchase snacks using our ship account. Things like ice cream, candy, water, smoothies, clothing and school supplies are all available for a price ranging between 1.50 (candy) and 50+ (clothing and accessories). Tomorrow we will be in Puerto Rico and I am so excited! I have signed up for a few trips like a welcome ceremony and an African roots tour….I’m not exactly sure what these are, but I am hoping that they will be fun! I have learned that I only have about 400 Internet minutes, and after that I have to pay $.40/minute so I need to use them sparingly. I will be updating my blog 2-3 days after each port so be sure to check it for updates! I am wishing that I had brought a few extra things with me, but I hear Puerto Rico has a Walmart and so I am planning on buying a few things there!
I miss you all very much and hope that all is well, please write back and let me know how things are!
~Valerie
I am writing from the SAS Ship the MV Explorer!! So far, ship life is ok…..I can feel the ship moving a lot more than I thought I would be able to, but no real sea sickness yet! I miss you all more than you can imagine! On the ship, the time changes all the time, and today the clock needed to be set ahead by an hour, and I had thought that I had set my clock ahead…..turns out I didn't and I ended up sleeping in and missing my first class! Ops! Today we were able to go out on the deck and catch some sun….everyone here on the boat is super skinny and super sun-tanned! So I felt even more fat and pale than usual.. :( I had my first Comm. class today, and so far I think that I am really going to like it! I am getting along well with my roomie so far, and am glad that I know some folks here on the ship already……..It seems like a lot of people came with people that they already knew, but still I am trying to meet new people. Today I also purchased a SAS sweat shirt…….because of its high price tag…$46.00, I think that it will be my only souvenir from the ship! On the boat, we never exchange real money…….everything gets charged to your own personal ship ID card. I think this is extremely dangerous because we never feel like we are spending money and so we can accumulate a large bill in a very short while. Aside from the usual dining hall food, we can purchase snacks using our ship account. Things like ice cream, candy, water, smoothies, clothing and school supplies are all available for a price ranging between 1.50 (candy) and 50+ (clothing and accessories). Tomorrow we will be in Puerto Rico and I am so excited! I have signed up for a few trips like a welcome ceremony and an African roots tour….I’m not exactly sure what these are, but I am hoping that they will be fun! I have learned that I only have about 400 Internet minutes, and after that I have to pay $.40/minute so I need to use them sparingly. I will be updating my blog 2-3 days after each port so be sure to check it for updates! I am wishing that I had brought a few extra things with me, but I hear Puerto Rico has a Walmart and so I am planning on buying a few things there!
I miss you all very much and hope that all is well, please write back and let me know how things are!
~Valerie
Sunday, January 28, 2007
other helpful info!
Should anybody feel the need to send me something, here is some helpful shipping info for the various countries I will be visiting:
*PORT
*ADDRESS OF PORT AGENT
*SUGGESTED SHIPPING DATE
San Juan, PUERTO RICO Phone: 787-982-8888Fax: 787-982-8890
Cruise Plus Service & Sales1760 Fernandez Juncos AvenueSan Juan, PUERTO RICO 00909
Jan. 24
Salvador, BRAZIL Phone: 55 71 391 1320
Oceanus Agencia MaritimaAv. Estados Unidos, 397Room 601-604, 40018-900 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Feb. 3
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Phone: 27 21 419 8660Fax: 27 21 421 6984
John T. Rennie & SonsPO Box 702, 1 Thibault House8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Feb. 16
Port Louis, MAURITIUS Phone: 230 202 70 90Fax: 27 21 421 6984
Ireland Blyth Limited1 Queen Street, P.O. Box 53Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Mar. 1
Chennai, INDIA Phone: 91 44 252 12032Fax: 91 44 252 43813
J.M. Baxi & CO.52 Rajaji SalaiChennai-600 001, INDIA
Mar. 11
Penang, MALAYSIA Phone: 60 4 2623 245Fax: 60 4 2627 989
Inchcape Shipping Services SDN4th Floor Unit 4BWisma Saw Chong Thuah39-c, Pengkalan Weld 10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
Mar. 19
Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM Phone: 84 8 823 1052Fax: 84 8 824 2996
General Forwarding & Agency5th Floor Osic Building8 Nguyen Hue AvenueD. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Mar. 26
HONG KONG Phone: 852 2746 7312Fax: 852 2744 3240
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.Units 1802-1805, 18th FloorNº 3 Lockhart Road Wanchai, HONG KONG-CHINA
Apr. 3
Qindao, CHINA Phone: 86 532 2653 332Fax: 86 532 2652 220
Penavico Qingdao21 Wuxia RoadQuingdao, 266002, P.R. CHINA
Apr. 7
Kobe, JAPAN Phone: 81 78 391 3046Fax: 81 78 391 3105
Inchcape Shipping ServicesKenryu Bldg II, Room 3036, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-kuKobe-shi, Hyogo-Ken 650-0024 JAPAN
Apr. 11
Honolulu, USA Phone: 1 808 599 8604Fax: 1 808 599 1950
Inchcape Shipping ServicesGentry Pacific Center260 North Numitz Hwy, Suite 103Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, USA
Apr. 23
Time Aboard Ship
Based on Eastern Daylight Time - the time on the ship is ahead EDT by the number of hours listed below:
*Country
-Time Difference
*Puerto Rico
-1 hour
*Brazil
-2 hours
*South Africa
-7 hours
*Mauritius
-9 hours
*India
-10.5 hours
*Penang
-13 hours
*Vietnam
-11 hours
*Hong Kong
-12 hours
*China
-12 hours
*Japan
-13 hours
*PORT
*ADDRESS OF PORT AGENT
*SUGGESTED SHIPPING DATE
San Juan, PUERTO RICO Phone: 787-982-8888Fax: 787-982-8890
Cruise Plus Service & Sales1760 Fernandez Juncos AvenueSan Juan, PUERTO RICO 00909
Jan. 24
Salvador, BRAZIL Phone: 55 71 391 1320
Oceanus Agencia MaritimaAv. Estados Unidos, 397Room 601-604, 40018-900 Salvador, BAHIA-BRASIL
Feb. 3
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Phone: 27 21 419 8660Fax: 27 21 421 6984
John T. Rennie & SonsPO Box 702, 1 Thibault House8000 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Feb. 16
Port Louis, MAURITIUS Phone: 230 202 70 90Fax: 27 21 421 6984
Ireland Blyth Limited1 Queen Street, P.O. Box 53Port Louis, MAURITIUS
Mar. 1
Chennai, INDIA Phone: 91 44 252 12032Fax: 91 44 252 43813
J.M. Baxi & CO.52 Rajaji SalaiChennai-600 001, INDIA
Mar. 11
Penang, MALAYSIA Phone: 60 4 2623 245Fax: 60 4 2627 989
Inchcape Shipping Services SDN4th Floor Unit 4BWisma Saw Chong Thuah39-c, Pengkalan Weld 10300 Penang, MALAYSIA
Mar. 19
Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM Phone: 84 8 823 1052Fax: 84 8 824 2996
General Forwarding & Agency5th Floor Osic Building8 Nguyen Hue AvenueD. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM
Mar. 26
HONG KONG Phone: 852 2746 7312Fax: 852 2744 3240
Inchcape Shipping Services (HK) Ltd.Units 1802-1805, 18th FloorNº 3 Lockhart Road Wanchai, HONG KONG-CHINA
Apr. 3
Qindao, CHINA Phone: 86 532 2653 332Fax: 86 532 2652 220
Penavico Qingdao21 Wuxia RoadQuingdao, 266002, P.R. CHINA
Apr. 7
Kobe, JAPAN Phone: 81 78 391 3046Fax: 81 78 391 3105
Inchcape Shipping ServicesKenryu Bldg II, Room 3036, Kaigan-dori, Chuo-kuKobe-shi, Hyogo-Ken 650-0024 JAPAN
Apr. 11
Honolulu, USA Phone: 1 808 599 8604Fax: 1 808 599 1950
Inchcape Shipping ServicesGentry Pacific Center260 North Numitz Hwy, Suite 103Honolulu, Hawaii 96817, USA
Apr. 23
Time Aboard Ship
Based on Eastern Daylight Time - the time on the ship is ahead EDT by the number of hours listed below:
*Country
-Time Difference
*Puerto Rico
-1 hour
*Brazil
-2 hours
*South Africa
-7 hours
*Mauritius
-9 hours
*India
-10.5 hours
*Penang
-13 hours
*Vietnam
-11 hours
*Hong Kong
-12 hours
*China
-12 hours
*Japan
-13 hours
important info
Here is my SAS Itinerary. With this, you should be able to track where I am!
(04 February to 14 May, 2007)
Destination Arrive Day Date Time
Depart Denver Wed. 31- Jan
Nassau, Bahamas Arrive
Wed. 30-Jan
1500
Depart Sunday 4-Feb 1700
San Juan, Puerto Rico Arrive Wednesday 7-Feb 800
Depart Friday 9-Feb 2300
Salvador, Brazil Arrive Saturday 17-Feb 700
Depart Wednesday 21-Feb 2300
Cape Town, South Africa Arrive Friday 2-Mar 800
Depart Thursday 8-Mar 2300
Port Louis, Mauritius Arrive Thursday 15-Mar 800
Depart Saturday 17-Mar 2300
Chennai, India Arrive Sunday 25-Mar 800
Depart Thursday 29-Mar 2300
Penang, Malaysia Arrive Monday 2-Apr 800
Depart Thursday 5-Apr 2300
(Stop in Singapore for Bunker)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Arrive Monday 9-Apr 1000
Depart Saturday 14-Apr 600
(On-Ship Time is Friday, 13 April at 2300)
Hong Kong Arrive Tuesday 17-Apr 800
Depart Wednesday 18-Apr 2300
Qingdao, China Arrive Saturday 21-Apr 800
Depart Sunday 22-Apr 2300
Kobe, Japan Arrive Wednesday 25-Apr 800
Depart Sunday 29-Apr 2300
(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii Arrive Monday 7-May 600
Depart Monday 7-May 2400
San Diego, California Arrive Monday 14-May 800
(04 February to 14 May, 2007)
Destination Arrive Day Date Time
Depart Denver Wed. 31- Jan
Nassau, Bahamas Arrive
Wed. 30-Jan
1500
Depart Sunday 4-Feb 1700
San Juan, Puerto Rico Arrive Wednesday 7-Feb 800
Depart Friday 9-Feb 2300
Salvador, Brazil Arrive Saturday 17-Feb 700
Depart Wednesday 21-Feb 2300
Cape Town, South Africa Arrive Friday 2-Mar 800
Depart Thursday 8-Mar 2300
Port Louis, Mauritius Arrive Thursday 15-Mar 800
Depart Saturday 17-Mar 2300
Chennai, India Arrive Sunday 25-Mar 800
Depart Thursday 29-Mar 2300
Penang, Malaysia Arrive Monday 2-Apr 800
Depart Thursday 5-Apr 2300
(Stop in Singapore for Bunker)
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Arrive Monday 9-Apr 1000
Depart Saturday 14-Apr 600
(On-Ship Time is Friday, 13 April at 2300)
Hong Kong Arrive Tuesday 17-Apr 800
Depart Wednesday 18-Apr 2300
Qingdao, China Arrive Saturday 21-Apr 800
Depart Sunday 22-Apr 2300
Kobe, Japan Arrive Wednesday 25-Apr 800
Depart Sunday 29-Apr 2300
(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii Arrive Monday 7-May 600
Depart Monday 7-May 2400
San Diego, California Arrive Monday 14-May 800
HELLO!
Hello Everybody!
I am getting ready to embark on a 100 day voyage around the world! Over the next 3 1/2 months, I will be visiting the following places: Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego. I am both fearful and excited to begin this once in a lifetime opportunity. As I travel the world, I would like to share some of my experiences with all of you through the use of this blog site. Please check it regularly and feel free to respond to any of my blogs.
~Val
I am getting ready to embark on a 100 day voyage around the world! Over the next 3 1/2 months, I will be visiting the following places: Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Brazil, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego. I am both fearful and excited to begin this once in a lifetime opportunity. As I travel the world, I would like to share some of my experiences with all of you through the use of this blog site. Please check it regularly and feel free to respond to any of my blogs.
~Val
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
