America the Beautiful, Sunny & Warm

Aloha! To ease our way back into the United States and back to the harsh realities of a New England winter, we spent a few days in tropical, beautiful Hawaii. We arrived in Honolulu on the island of Oahu on Friday, where we spent just one evening. After the second day, we went to the less picturesque Hilo, on the main island of Hawaii. Instead of leaving Hilo on Monday evening for our final stretch to San Diego, we were rerouted back to Honolulu to wait out a severe weather system near the coast of California. Although we got a late start heading back to San Diego, the MV Explorer is roaring its engines, and we are still arriving around 8 am on Monday!

Honolulu

On our first day in Honolulu, a friend of mine found a tour of the island that focused on the locations where the TV show LOST has been filmed. As we learned on the tour, 98% of the show is filmed on the island of Oahu, with only editing and a few scenes done in studios in California. The two of us set out with our friendly and knowledgeable guide, in his van with his dog. For those of you who have never seen the show, you might as well skip the rest of this paragraph. Tanya, and the rest of my LOST obsessed family and friends, read on! Our first LOST sighting was on our drive to the northern coast of the island – we drove by Aloha Stadium, where we saw Jack running the stairs when he first met Desmond early on in the show. We drove to a public beach on the north shore of Oahu, permanent home of the beach campsite, where we saw all of the tents and everything set up. Unlike the last time that we saw the campsite on the show, it appeared as if no one had inhabited those tents for some time – everything was in disarray. Can’t wait to see what’s going on with that when season 6 begins! We talked to the security guard who told us that we missed the cast shooting a scene by a mere couple of days. Also nearby was the church that Mr. Eko and Charlie built, and a few “newly dug” graves, which we assume will appear in season 6 as well. After this, we visited a forest area that opened up to another beach, where Kate gave Jack stitches just after the crash. This stretch of beach looked very familiar, as it was also used in many other fishing and beach scenes throughout the show. In this forest area is the very recognizable tree, where Sayyid tortured Sawyer and where they hid from the polar bear. Next, we visited the crash site beach, which is adjacent to the bushes where Jack first sees his father back to life on the island. We drove by the compound of houses where first the Dharma Initiative and then the Others lived – and learned that it is a YMCA summer camp. We drove by “The Market,” from the 5th season finale, where a young Kate almost stole a lunchbox before she was stopped by Jacob. We visited an airstrip that acted as the Nigerian airport where Mr. Eko’s plane left full of drugs, and saw where the remnants of the Oceanic flight 815 plane are held. After lunch, we headed back to the city of Honolulu where we visited the bakery that Kate’s mom worked at when Kate visited her and told her about how she killed her father, the cemetery where Locke’s father faked his burial and where Sun’s lover was buried after Jin killed him. In the confines of the city, there is a rainforest area, which is the famous “creek” that we see when anyone walks across the island. We visited the building used as Oxford University, where Daniel Faraday did his experiments, the streets of London, Sun’s father’s office, the street where Rose and Bernard met in the snow (which was obviously a special effect!) and many other little things. The hatches are all done in the studio, so we didn’t get to see that. But it was so neat to see everything else, and to think that so much of what we believe to be on a tropical island or in Seoul or London actually exists in Honolulu! Oh, and our guide shared with us that Claire is back this season, as a brunette. Also, other dead characters such as Shannon have been seen filming, too. Looking forward to February 2nd!

That evening we hung out in Waikiki near all of the hotels and the beach. We spent the following day at the beach, and made a trip to Walmart to stock up for our final week of the voyage. Luckily, my mom is bringing me two extra suitcases to pack all of my souvenirs…my friends invested in extra duffle bags to get all of their treasures home!

Hilo

We arrived in Hilo the following morning after sailing through the night. After the paradise that was Honolulu, Hilo was a huge letdown. The active volcano on the island is responsible for the overcast skies most of the time, and Hilo is a small town that does not cater to tourists. We visited the Big Island Candy store, which was a highlight of the day, and had delicious Thai food for dinner. The city was asleep by 9pm, and I followed suit! The next day we rented bicycles and explored an area with beautiful gardens and a tall concrete structure that we jumped off of into the ocean for a refreshing swim. We ate homemade macadamia nut ice cream, which was absolutely delicious! That afternoon, I ran in a charity 5k Fun Run that was organized by Semester at Sea students. It was so great to run outside again after months of the treadmill rocking back and forth with the motion of the ship. We were told that evening that we would be returning to Honolulu the next day.

Honolulu, again

We spent our extra day in paradise back at the beach in Waikiki! Working on my tan daddy, don’t worry. We had shaved ice, the Hawaiian equivalent to a sno-cone…Bari would have been in heaven! That evening we swiped our ID cards for the last time EMBARKING on the MV Explorer…very bittersweet! Looking forward to getting home next week, but it will be sad to see this wonderful journey come to an end…

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Konnichiwa! Sadly, we left our final foreign soil Tuesday to embark on our ten-day Pacific crossing to Hawaii. My time in Japan was the perfect ending to my world travels for now - we had a blast! After all of the chaos, dirtiness and lack of infrastructure in many of our other ports, Japan’s efficiency and cleanliness were a treat! Although not a lot of people speak even a word of English, all of the Japanese people were so friendly and willing to help. All of the young kids that we encountered on trains wanted to practice their English with us, and people went out of their way to show us where we needed to go. I traveled through Japan with two of my best friends on the ship – both about 5’9’’ and both blonde…yep, our pictures together are quite hilarious! While they stuck out like sore thumbs, I was excited to be able to see the tops of others’ heads for the first time! You know the average height of a country is very low when I was taller than many. Japan offers a special Rail Pass for tourists with unlimited use of their extensive train system. This was the best investment we could have made – we were able to hop on the bullet trains and make our way to 8 cities in 5 days!

What we did

We arrived in Yokohama, a small city near Tokyo, on Friday. Stepping off the ship, we got our first glimpse of fall. Unlike the tropical weather (or snow in Beijing) that we’ve experienced for most of the rest of the voyage, Japan offered cool, crisp beautiful autumn days for the duration of our stay. I was so very excited to see beautiful foliage throughout the country…I was worried that I had missed fall this year by being away. Our first stop, after lunch at the train station (which in Japan is totally the way to go – they have excellent restaurants in all of the stations), was Kamakura. A small town on the waterfront, it reminded me of a New England town like Rockport, but instead of lobster t-shirts, soap, candy, etc., there was Hello Kitty, Samurai swords and Japanese characters everywhere. The main attraction in Kamakura is the largest wooden Buddha statue in the world, built in the thirteenth century.

That night, we stayed in an upscale district of Tokyo called Ginza. We had a delicious sushi dinner and explored the city a bit. Just like any other modern city, skyscrapers and traffic dominated Tokyo. We went into the famous Sony Building and saw the newest, largest flat screen TVs on display. That night, we also went to a famous Tokyo bar made entirely of ice – everything from the tables to the walls, the bar itself and the glasses in which the drinks were served. When you walk in, they give you a warm poncho with gloves to keep you warm! We met a group of local Japanese people who we shared stories with until we were too cold and had to leave!

The next morning, we took one of the world’s fastest train lines, the Shinkansen, to Hiroshima. We had a very somber afternoon visiting the memorials and museum dedicated to the dropping of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. At the edge of the Peace Park still stand the remnants of the old Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall. Today the skeleton of the building is known as the A-Bomb Dome, and you can see the twisted metal beams that remain from the bomb. We spent a few hours walking through the Peace Memorial Museum. It was fascinating to read the history of World War II and the U.S. decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima from a Japanese perspective. Although there was a bias in the information against the United States, the museum told the story in a compelling, moving manner. I was particularly interested to learn that Hiroshima was chosen above other Japanese targets because of its size, the fact that there were no known U.S. P.O.W.s there, and that it had not undergone the same levels of air raids that devastated other cities. The museum also had gruesome photos and remains from the bomb that were extremely chilling, but important to see. On display there were a series of annual letters that have been sent from the mayor of Hiroshima to the U.S. President since the end of WWII encouraging the president to disarm, with no success. Unfortunately, as humans, we have a long history of allowing history to repeat itself. Let’s hope that the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the exception. We visited the many statues and memorials in the area, commemorating victims of the bombs. There is also a plaque that was laid at the hypocenter of the bomb, the exact spot above which the bomb was dropped. After seeing a mural of the city completely demolished by the bomb with only a building or two left standing, it is truly remarkable that in such a short time, Hiroshima could be rebuilt into such a beautiful place.

From Hiroshima, we continued west on the train to Fukuoka. Each year, Japan has six major sumo wrestling tournaments, each one held in a different city for about two weeks. Fukuoka was hosting a sumo tournament while we were there, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see it! Because we were in Japan over a holiday weekend, everything was absolutely packed with crowds. We weren’t able to find a place to stay in Fukuoka, so we had some adventures that night! We ate dinner at what my guidebook called the Ramen Stadium – there were eight different ramen noodle restaurants in the same enclosed area. The Ramen Stadium was in a beautiful outdoor shopping area, which we enjoyed walking through and window shopping (as the stores were already closed). We decided to kill time by going to a midnight movie. If you thought movies in the U.S. were expensive, we paid 1800 yen (about $20) to see A Christmas Carol (or to nap through it in comfortable, warm seats)! While leaving the movie at about 2:30 am, we saw a robot security guard! Oh Japanese technology…From here, we killed time at a coffee shop bookstore that was open until 4am. Then, we got pretty desperate and found a clean, heated public toilet :) Coming from the U.S., when someone says, “Make sure to get there early because there could be a line for tickets,” that could mean line up the night before! Being my mother’s daughter, I figured that we might as well go to the stadium and wait on line nice and early to make sure we beat the crowd. Well, we got there at about 5 am and there was not another soul there until after 7am. Better safe than sorry, right? Yeah, my friends made fun of me quite a bit for that suggestion. We bought our tickets at about 8am, and then went back to our favorite coffee shop for a few hours.

The Sumo tournament is an all-day event, going from the lowest ranked rikishi (wrestler) to the highest ranked rikishi at the end of the day. When we arrived around noon, the arena was still pretty empty, so we were able to sit very close for a while. We watched several rounds of matches, each lasting on average less than a minute. I was surprised by the amount of strategy and skill required to succeed – the biggest men don’t always win! To win a match, one must force his opponent out of the ring or force any part of his opponent’s body to touch the ground. As the afternoon wore on, more and more spectators arrived and pushed us up to our arena seats. The seats closer to the mound are actually just mats on the ground – the Japanese are not too big on furniture. As the wrestlers became more highly ranked, there were more and more rituals added to each match. For instance, the rikishi throw salt onto the doyho (ring) before fighting each other. We bought tegata, a copy of the top-ranked wrestler’s handprint (HUGE) and his fighting name written in Japanese calligraphy, as souvenirs from the event! After a few hours of watching large men fight each other and eating Japanese snacks, we boarded yet another train for Osaka.

Although we had every intention of exploring Osaka that night, by the time we found our hostel we were too exhausted to leave! We had some convenience store sushi (which I have to say was excellent!) and relaxed in our less-than-ideal rooms. And by less than ideal, I mean there was a mat. On the floor. With a small pillow. Oh well, we weren’t expecting luxury…We woke up the next morning and traveled a short distance to Kyoto. Kyoto was absolutely packed with tourists and Japanese alike, all who were enjoying the beautiful fall weather, and a day off from work due to the national holiday. All of the trains and monuments were extremely crowded that day, but that didn’t stop us!

There was so much to see in Kyoto, but we only had one day there so we had to prioritize our visits. We first went to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to the Inari g-d of rice and sake. In addition to the shrine itself, there are over 10,000 bright orange torri gates that create a tunnel-like path through the woods. From here, we visited Tofuku-ji, a famous Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The temple is also known for its spectacular fall foliage, which we thoroughly enjoyed seeing. The line to get a ticket to go inside the temple was monstrous, so we just walked around the perimeter instead. That afternoon, we went to Sanjusangen-do, home of 1001 gilded statues of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, Kannon. There are 1000 standing in lines, and the most famous statue is a very large seated Kannon. It was extremely impressive to see the intricate detail of each one of the statues, built by over 70 craftsmen in the 12th century.

That evening, we finally made our way back to the ship, which had traveled from Yokohama to Kobe while we were gone. After a much needed shower, we went out for one of the best meals I have EVER had (that is a very loaded statement)…see below for details! We couldn’t leave Japan without singing karaoke, so we met up with some friends and spent a hilarious two-plus hours at a karaoke bar with our own private room (so I only had to embarrass myself in front of ten friends rather than an entire crowd)! The next morning, we woke up bright and early to make it to Himeji before lunchtime to visit the Himeji-jo fortress. It is one of twelve surviving fortresses from feudal Japan, built in 1346. We went up to the 6th and top floor to see a great view of the surrounding area, and more fall foliage!

We returned to the ship just in time for a field trip for one of my business classes to a Japanese candy factory. Glico is a large corporation that sells not only candy, but also dairy products, health products and many others. We toured the factory, learned a lot about the differences between Japanese and American business practices, and best of all paid a visit to the company store to try all of their products! They are most famous for their Pocky sticks, a pretzel-like stick covered in chocolate. The President of the company told our translator that of all of the daily tours that come through the factory, our group of about 40 people spent the most money at the store. I think it’s safe to say that we perpetuated the overweight American stereotype!

What we ate

As with most of the countries that we have visited, I enjoyed the food in Japan very much. We ate a lot of meals in train stations, which may seem odd. But, it wasn’t fast food like what we see in American train stations; instead, the train stations in Japan are microcosms of the cities themselves, with delicious restaurants, gift shops, post offices, etc. The best sushi we had was in Tokyo on our first night – my friend Nicky and I decided to be adventurous and try the sashimi combination platter. We sat at the sushi bar of the restaurant, and hesitated to ask the man preparing the fish what it was until after we had tasted it! It was the best tuna I had ever tasted! We also ate salmon, yellowtail, arcfish, octopus, shrimp, whitefish, and some others that we didn’t dare to ask. And unlike sashimi back home, there was no rice involved here…I will definitely be more adventurous with my sushi orders at home now! We tried several bento boxes for lunch, and were surprised at how fresh and delicious the pre-prepared boxed meals could be. They had yogurt in pouches with straws and sealed packages of fresh edamame and lots of other delicious healthy snacks, too! Another quirky thing about Japan is the overwhelming presence of vending machines everywhere. They have rows of cold beverages and rows of hot beverages, such as canned coffees and teas, for sale in vending machines at train stations, in malls and on the street. They also sell cigarettes, soup, ice cream - just about anything you could ever imagine out of vending machines!

On our final evening in Kobe, we decided to splurge and try real Kobe beef. My guide book recommended a restaurant called A-1, and said that it was a favorite for foreigners. Based on the prices listed, we expected it to be a pretty upscale place. Much to our surprise, it was a very small, dark place with wooden tables. It was mostly frequented by locals, and it smelled DELICIOUS when we walked in. They prepared the filets teppan-yaki style, on the grill right in front of you. The beef was served on a smoking skillet, and was eaten with chopsticks. In my opinion, any steak that doesn’t require utensils other than chopsticks to be eaten is automatically delicious. I truly don’t know if I have ever had a bite of something so tasty…the kobe beef in the states can’t possibly compare with the real thing.



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Getting back on the ship was a bittersweet moment – Japan was such a wonderful port, but it was also our final moment on foreign soil. As we look forward to Hawaii and returning home, it was awfully hard to know that our travels have come to an end. I had a blast traveling independently with just two close friends – we were able to easily adjust our plans and just enjoy each others’ company without worrying about keeping up with a big group and a strict itinerary. The combination of modern and traditional facets of life in Japan was truly fascinating to observe and experience throughout our five days there. Although Japan is just as developed (if not more in some ways) as Europe or the United States, it has a peculiarly unique culture and way of life that we very much enjoyed being part of, even if just for a brief period of time. We saw a lot of the country in five days, but there are plenty of other things I would love to go back and see. Hopefully sometime in the future!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m very sad that I will be missing the holiday for the first time ever, but this experience has been well worth it. I hope my family enjoys the extra food (especially dessert) that will be available in my absence! I am so thankful for so many things in my life – obviously the opportunities that I have had during this amazing semester, but more importantly to all of you, my friends and family, who care enough about me to follow my travels while I’m gone! I look forward to sharing more with you all when I return home in just a few short weeks. More from Hawaii…Sayonara!

China: Cold and Communist

(And no, unfortunately we did not see any real Pandas)

Before arriving in China, one of my professors remarked how when he was growing up, his parents told him to eat all of his food because there were starving kids in China. For my generation, the starving kids were almost always in Africa. If Africa in a few decades can achieve the outstanding development that China has recently undergone, it will be another economic miracle! Despite the language barrier, both Beijing and Shanghai reminded me very much of a cosmopolitan city back home. I was truly amazed at the sight of the economic progress that we have read so much about lately. That being said, China was also one of the most culturally shocking countries that we’ve visited. In addition to the extreme language barrier (which we honestly have not encountered yet), the Chinese culture and Communist government make certain facets of Chinese life unrecognizable to what we are used to in the West. Read on, and you’ll see what I mean…

What we did

- - - - - - Hong Kong
Our ship docked first in Hong Kong, and we had the option to either sail with the ship up to Shanghai for two days or meet up with it again after it arrived there. Wanting to make the most of my time in China, I’m so glad that I was able to have those extra two days in Beijing! As part of the independent trip that I had signed up for before coming on Semester at Sea, we had a tour of Hong Kong on our first day in port. Hong Kong is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen – the skyline at night was absolutely magnificent! Although not technically part of main land China, the British returned control of the island to China in 1999 with a 50-year grace period for Hong Kong to maintain a separate political and economic system from the Communist People’s Republic of China. We had a wonderful Cantonese style lunch and saw many sights that afternoon, including the Man Mo Temple, Stanley Market and Repulse Bay, a popular beach in Hong Kong. We also took a small boat ride through the Aberdeen Fishing Village. The highlight of the day was taking the tram up to the top of Victoria’s Peak, where we had an excellent view of the entire harbor! A close runner up for the highlight of my day in Hong Kong was, I hate to say it, the first Starbucks coffee I’ve had since August. Like I said, I hate to say it, but it was a delicious taste of home!

- - - - - - Beijing
After a gorgeous day in tropical Hong Kong (and more than two months of sunshine thus far on the trip), arriving at the Beijing airport was like flying into Logan after spring break in Florida. It was unseasonably cold during our entire visit (go figure) and had snowed the night before we arrived. Needless to say the vest and leather gloves I thought would be sufficient to keep me warm were not. We didn’t arrive to our hotel until dinnertime, so after eating dinner and walking around for a very little bit, we rested up for the next couple of days!

Due to the freezing cold, they changed our itinerary a bit and brought us to the Silk Market the next morning so that we could bargain for everything from fake UGG boots to snow pants, jackets and mittens. We encountered our first Communist snafu while trying to leave – our buses were stopped trying to leave the parking lot for almost an hour because our guides had not informed the government that our itinerary had changed, and we were not supposed to have visited the market that day. Imagine having to notify the government every time you wanted to go shopping! Afterwards, we visited a historic hutong – a Chinese neighborhood comprising of many alleys and courtyard homes shared among many families. We were invited to lunch in one of the homes and had delicious traditional Chinese home cooking…nothing like Lotus Flower back home, let me assure you! We rode rickshaws through the many alleys of the neighborhood and learned about the infamous “One Child Policy.” The name is actually a misnomer today, because families can have a second child if their first child is a girl. Also, you can pay an undisclosed amount, proportional to your income, to have more than one child (our female guide had an older brother). Furthermore, they are beginning to initiate a policy that says if both you and your partner are only children, you can have two children at no extra cost to the government, because you are merely replacing one spot in each of your families. Very nearby the hutong, we visited a famous Drum Tower and got to witness the drumming that occurs there several times a day. We had to climb several very steep stairs to reach the top, but the view over Beijing was just great. It’s been a while since I’ve seen snow lining the tree branches!

From here, we drove about two hours outside of the city to the Great Wall, where we froze watching the sunset. We had dinner at the base of the wall in a small restaurant, and then began the 40-minute evening hike to the spot where we slept that evening. Although many people in our group slept in the guard towers, some of my friends and I decided to really brave the cold (not that the guard towers are heated or even enclosed…just protected from the harsh winds) and sleep under the stars on the wall. We were provided with two sleeping bags, which kept me pretty warm! That, and the umpteen layers of clothing I was wearing! The stars were absolutely amazing to look at – we saw more shooting stars that night than I’ve seen in my life combined. We awoke at sunrise, another beautiful sight, and began the three-hour hike. Because it had recently snowed on the wall, not only was it frigid, but there was a lot of slippery ice, which made the hike all the more interesting. We finally arrived at the end of the path we were taking, and we had the option to zipline across the river or walk for another half hour. Although the zipline did not look like the safest thing to do, I made sure other people made it safely across before getting in line! Getting onto the bus after being cold for nearly 18 hours was one of the best feelings in the world.

We drove back to Beijing that evening and had free time to roam around the city. We were so tired though, so we only went out to dinner for a bit and then just laid low at the hotel. The next morning, our last day in Beijing, we first visited the Forbidden City, which was built between 1406 and 1420. It was enjoyed by emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties and contains 8,707 rooms throughout the many wooden buildings within the city walls. From here, it was only a short walk to Tiananmen Square. Our guide was not allowed to openly talk about the 1989 massacre due to the enormous police presence patrolling Tiananmen. That afternoon we visited the 2008 Olympic Village and got to go inside the Bird’s Nest. The Water Cube was not open for visitors as it is being renovated to be used for other purposes now that the Olympics are over. Our final stop of the day was the Summer Palace, used by emperors since the 18th century when the capital of China was moved to Beijing. Most of the area within the Summer Palace is water, and there are more painted murals there than anywhere else. Although by this point we were freezing and tired from a long day of sightseeing, it was a very beautiful place to walk through. I met a woman who was traveling with a few other American teachers, who is a retired elementary school teacher from Philadelphia. You have no idea how thrilled I was when she had heard of CityStep, the dance-mentor program that I am very involved with at Penn! What a small world, huh?

That night, we took an overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. I was lucky enough to even make the train – it left at 9:30, so we were upstairs in the train station eating dinner and figured we would head down to the waiting area to meet up with the rest of the group around 9:00. Well, when we got back downstairs, there was NO ONE in sight, and the guard had already closed the gate. I was with two other people, and we pleaded with the guard (who spoke zero English) to let us through. He opened a side door for us that led us down a dark corridor and it was very unclear where we were supposed to go. Never again do I want to run through a Chinese train station (or any train station for that matter) with all of my luggage and souvenirs. It was a very panicky moment, but in the end we made the train and all was good. Compared to our sleeper train experience in India, this train was the Four Seasons. Okay, maybe not – but there was an actual toilet this time, and clean compartments!

- - - - - Shanghai

Jewish Tour
When we woke up the next morning, it was raining as we approached Shanghai. After some trouble with immigration trying to get back on the ship (they had the most backward system of taking our passports and issuing us special copies to carry off the ship with us), I embarked on a tour of the Jewish history in Shanghai with one of my professors, his wife, and a handful of other Jewish students on the ship. Until this voyage, I never knew that there had ever been a significant Jewish population in Shanghai. It was absolutely fascinating, and reaffirmed my belief in the underlying connections Jewish people feel towards other Jews, even if they are complete strangers. An Israeli man named Dvir, who moved to Shanghai about eight years ago as a journalist, led the tour. We learned about the three major waves of Jewish immigration to Shanghai and their many contributions to the city and the entire country of China.

After Britain forced China to open its doors to trade and immigration, a Jewish family named Sassoon from Baghdad seized the business opportunity and opened branches of its firm in Shanghai. Other notable families that followed the Sassoons included the Hardoons and the Kadoories, as well as about 800 to 1000 Sephardic Iraqi Jews. These Baghdadi Jews benefited immensely from import and export trade, real estate and financial investments. For instance, Nanjing Road (the 5th Avenue of China) was developed by Jewish immigrants to Shanghai during this period. Next, many Russian Jews arrived in Shanghai via the Tran-Siberian Railroad during the pogroms of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. These new immigrants did not strike it rich like the Baghdadi Jews did; instead, they opened many small businesses like cafes, grocery stores, markets and barber shops, etc. Then, as the Third Reich assumed power in Germany, many smart Jews fled to Shanghai. Unlike other countries in the world that were reluctant to harbor Jewish refugees, China opened its doors to everyone. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 Jews made Shanghai their safe haven. The Jews living in Shanghai at this time were not entirely unscathed – the Japanese occupying forces were given orders by their German ally to force the Jews to live in the ghetto, which we were able to visit during the tour. Josef Meisinger, Gestapo representative for the Far East urged the Japanese to adopt a “Final Solution” similar to the one implemented in Europe. However, the Japanese did not harbor the same anti-Semitism that the Germans did, so the worst the Jews of Shanghai faced were close living quarters within the ghetto. Both Dr. Feng Shan Ho and Mr. Sugihara, Japanese consuls in Europe, played an enormous role in saving Jews by issuing visas and transit visa permissions for them to safely arrive in Shanghai. The Jewish story in Shanghai mainly ended after WWII, because the Communists took control in 1949 and forced any foreigners that remained in China out. Dvir did tell us that more and more Jews have been immigrating to Shanghai in recent years, just as he did.

We visited the small museum that commemorates the Holocaust survivors and Righteous Gentiles, as well as one of the two remaining temples in Shanghai today. We also toured a small, shared family home that Jews lived in during this period. Although Chinese people inhabit these neighborhoods today, there are still remnants of Jewish life there. For instance, there are nail holes left in the doorposts from where mezzuzot were once hung, and some of the doors or windows have Stars of David depicted in one way or another. Another fascinating story that Dvir told us about involves a side project that he has taken on since moving to Shanghai. At one time, there were four Jewish cemeteries in Shanghai, where over 4,000 Jews were buried. During the Cultural Revolution, these tombstones were looted to use as building materials, and also because they were not “Chinese.” Dvir, with the help of Chinese people who were involved in destroying the cemeteries, has been working to uncover these stones and to hopefully make a memorial out of them someday. They show up in odd places, such as stone steps up to houses, or buried in the river. So far, he has been able to locate over 85. He is still working to find more, and also battling the government to get permission to build some sort of monument with the stones he can find. This is yet another example of the red tape, corruption and sluggishness of the Communist system in China.

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Due to the inclement weather and rough seas, our departure from Shanghai was delayed until the following day at noon. I was glad to have a bit more time to explore the extremely modern city of Shanghai, despite the wind and rain. We had a delicious final dinner that evening and explored the swanky area around the restaurant a bit.

What we ate

Chinese food, DUH! Some of the meals that we had reminded me a lot of the Chinese food that we can find back home. However, some was so completely unrecognizable! Hopefully my practice using chopsticks will help me in Japan, too! Much of the Chinese food we had was a bit spicier than what is served in the U.S., which I liked a lot. Also, especially in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are both on the coast, there is a lot of seafood in their dishes. I wish I knew what some of the strange things we ate were called, but oftentimes the menus just had pictures and Chinese characters, so we just pointed to what we wanted to try! Luckily I eat just about anything – the people I traveled with who were picky eaters or vegetarians or had allergies had a lot of trouble communicating this to the waiters. Bari probably would have been stuck eating solely white rice for the week (to which I know she wouldn’t exactly object!) One of the strangest things I tasted was a round, clear jelly ball full of a substance I could only identify as tasting like a salty cookie dough. Very interesting, to say the least. The tea in China was also very different from other tea I’ve had before – it smelled and tasted incredibly fragrant, often like flowers. On those cold days especially in Beijing, there was nothing I wanted more than that hot cup of tea (or the entire pot)!

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According to many of my professors who have traveled to China prior to this tip noted just how much China has changed recently. Although we read about it all the time, it was so fascinating to see the rapid and ongoing adjustments being made right before my eyes. I would have liked to visit rural China for a basis of comparison with the prosperous urban areas, but time only allows for so much! I have a feeling that much of China will be unrecognizable to me if I go back years from now. One night, we went to a coffee shop called Leymo. Other than the name (and the certainly sub-par beverages), you were made to believe you were a Starbucks. The cups, logo, colors, etc. exactly mimicked the Starbucks brand. I think this exemplifies a lot of Chinese culture – many up and coming Chinese people want so badly to have the luxuries that wealthy Westerners have. There are so many knock-off bags, jeans, sweaters, coats, shoes, even coffee shops, in China as a result of this desire– Chinese people can demonstrate to their peers and to the outside world that they are doing well; however, underneath the façade of the designer label or the imitation coffee cup, it’s just not the same thing.

As I said, China was an enormous culture shock, mainly because I think I wasn’t expecting it to be so shocking. I had an enlightening and enjoyable week in China, and am even more fascinated than I was before by the contradictions between the rapid economic growth occurring and the stagnant, interfering Communist government. Unfortunately, seeing these oxymoronic systems firsthand did not clarify much, but rather raised many more issues and questions. We have been exploring this topic in my class on the Economic Development of Asia – the bottom line is that I think only time will tell just how large and powerful China will grow, and in what ways it will do so.

I can’t believe that we arrive in our final foreign destination TOMORROW! More from Japan…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (in the next few days) KACEY, ALYSSA AND DADDY!

Everything is $1 at the Dollar Store – Cambodia

Although we are not usually allowed to travel outside of the borders of whatever country we are visiting, Semester at Sea offered a trip to Cambodia for three of our five days in Vietnam. Although I didn’t know much about the country before signing up for the trip over the summer, I am so very glad that I decided to go! We packed SO much into our three days in Cambodia, and it was three of my favorite days of the entire semester so far.

We flew a small propeller plane to the capital city, Phnom Penh, on Thursday, where our excellent tour guide greeted us. The first afternoon, we visited the Silver Pagoda inside of the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace complex was built in the 19th century during French colonial rule, and boasts spectacular architecture, jewels and other riches. We then visited the National Museum, which hosts many artifacts from the great Khmer Empire, dating back to between the 9th and 14th centuries. There were many statues of Hindu deities, and we learned a lot about India’s influence on Hinduism in Cambodia, as well as some of the major differences between the religions practiced in each respective country. In the 13th century, the Khmer King Jayavarman VII chose Buddhism over Hinduism, and today Cambodia is 80% Buddhist. As such, there are many Buddhist statues from the later Khmer period at the museum, too. The museum has a beautiful courtyard, too. We finished our afternoon with a sunset cruise on the Mekong River, a body of water that connects Cambodia and Vietnam. After dinner, some of us ventured out on our first tuk-tuk ride – a uniquely Cambodian vehicle consisting of a motorcycle with a carriage for the passengers hitched to the back. We went to the Foreign Correspondents’Club (FCC for short), a restaurant and bar with a lot of history. The building used to a hotel in which expats covering the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge atrocities would stay. Once Cambodia opened its doors to tourists, the place became a bar frequented mostly by tourists.

The following morning began very grimly – we first visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which was one of the most important of the 136 prisons during Pol Pot’s reign over Cambodia. Here we learned the history of the genocide that occurred under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 – Nearly 2 million people were executed by the Communist regime, and 16,000 people were interrogated and tortured at the Tuol Sleng prison that we visited. The Khmer Rouge targeted educated Cambodians and members of the former government, as well as their families. It is a very simple yet powerful museum – photos of the victims and our tour guides’ explanations were enough. Only seven of the 16,000 prisoners survived – after being interrogated, the rest were sent to the Killing Fields. By now, only 3 of the 7 survivors are still alive…it happened to be our luck that one of the survivors, Bomeng, was sitting on the bench while we were visiting. He comes many days to the prison to talk to visitors about his four months there – although he didn’t speak English, our tour guide was able to mediate a discussion with him. This definitely made the visit all the more memorable, though his story of losing his entire family was heart wrenching.

Our next stop was to the Cheoung Ek Killing Fields, the resting place of thousands of Cambodians in mass graves that were unearthed after 1979. Today there is a beautiful Buddhist stupa there, packed full of human skulls found in the graves. It is a truly chilling sight, as are the many pits that remain from the mass graves that were dug. Walking around, there are still bits of clothing, bone and teeth in the dirt paths that were never pulled out. While looking at the remnants of Pol Pot’s atrocities, a beautiful yellow butterfly flew by, and I was reminded of Pavel Friedman’s poem “The Butterfly,” which he wrote during the Holocaust in the Theresienstadt concentration camp:

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone…

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here,
in the ghetto.

The Khmer Rouge killed nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population, and just about every Cambodian was affected personally. Our tour guide, for instance, lost his mother, and was evacuated from Phnom Penh to the countryside at age two. Like all other genocides, it is painful but necessary to learn about and remember.

After the Killing Fields, we visited the Russian Market for a very quick shopping jaunt. The U.S. dollar is widely accepted in Cambodia, and nearly everything from a can of soda to a water bottle to a t-shirt or a pack of postcards - even knock-off sunglasses – cost “Only one dollah!” After lunch, we flew to Siem Reap, a tourist hub that has been built up to accommodate visitors to Angkor Wat, which was the capital of the Khmer Empire at its height of power. That afternoon, we visited the very famous Angkor Wat temple complex for the first time. We watched the sun set over the spectacular temple, built during the first half of the 12th century. At dinner that night, we saw a Cambodian dance show, which was really interesting. The female dancers use and bend their hands in ways I have never before seen or imagined, and the costumes were very elaborate and beautiful!

We returned to Angkor Wat twice more, once at sunrise and once later in the day. After breakfast, we visited the abandoned Ta Prohm temple, featured in Tomb Raider. It is currently undergoing restoration, sponsored by the Indian government. However in its current state of disrepair, massive trees have grown through sections of the stones and pillars. Despite the mess and rubble, it was spectacular! We visited Angkor Wat for the final time, and got to explore the upper levels and the intricate wall carvings. That afternoon before our flight, amidst a thunderstorm, we visited the Angkor Thom complex, built by King Jayavarman VII during the 12th century. The most famous temple at Angkor Thom is Bayon, featuring 216 faces of disputed Buddhist origin. We got to climb around the 54 towers, each adorned with four carved faces. We drove by the Elephant Terrace and the Terrace of the Leper King – large carvings that line parts of the road within Angkor Thom.

Tourists have begun to pour in after a long, dark period in Cambodian history. I’m glad that I had the chance to experience the rich culture and long history. There is so much to learn and see there, and although we only visited for three days, I now know so much more about Cambodia than I ever did before. I’m looking forward to reading my new copy of Loung Ung’s memoir First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers.

Now, we’re back on the ship for only three days before we reach Hong Kong and mainland China, and rumor has it they are taking all of our temperatures to appease fears of the Chinese over H1N1. Hopefully we're all allowed in! I was able to upload a few more photos from Mauritius and India: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030596&id=1238070056&l=b2c1e6ee24. Enjoy!

If the Traffic Doesn’t Kill You, the Chili Peppers Will! Vietnam

Although we were warned about the crazy traffic, and even received a human demonstration of how to cross the street, doing so was a totally new experience. The instructions “Don’t bother looking both ways, just GO (and the motorcycles will try to swerve around you)” pretty much sum it up! Within the first couple of hours we became accustomed to just stepping off the curb into oncoming traffic and hoping for the best! If anyone knows the video game Frogger, imagine the people as the frog – except that if you get hit by a cyclo or a motorbike or a car or a bus, you don’t get to go back to the beginning and try again…

We didn’t have a very intense agenda on our first day in port – we just wanted to explore Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. Unlike most ports where we arrive early in the morning and are usually off the boat by 10 am, we entered the mouth of the Saigon River around 8 am and had about a three hour cruise down the river to arrive in port. So our first order of business was to find pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. A friend of mine is a huge fan of Vietnamese food, and having never tried it myself, I followed her lead and truly enjoyed every bite – that is until the end, when I ate the spiciest pepper I’ve ever eaten before! My friends and the Vietnamese waiters at the restaurant got a kick out of the tears streaming down my face…luckily, the moment only lasted for a brief while, and I recovered.

Our next order or business was to take advantage of the excellent tailors that work throughout Vietnam – they can replicate any picture or description of what you want! After a quick series of measurements, a credit card swipe, 48 hours and one fitting, I had a brand new business suit custom made for me! Later that day we explored the famous Ben Thanh Market, where you can find items from knock-off anything to Vietnamese handcrafts to my favorite, the rice paddy hats.

The next day, I went on a very small Semester at Sea sponsored trip to the Cu Chi tunnels (the 7am departure from the ship probably had something to do with the very few people who showed up!) The Cu Chi tunnels, a network of 75 miles of underground tunnels, were built and used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Today, the area is open as a tourist spot, where you can not only crawl around through 90 meters of the original tunnels, but also see some of the original entrances and models of the various bamboo traps that were used. We learned that they used termites to dig the paths to bring air down to the tunnels, as well as many other tactics they used to keep the tunnels a relative secret to the U.S. troops. All of the tunnel digging and trap-laying were done at night, another effort of secrecy. The U.S. had a very large base nearby, and although they knew that the tunnels existed, many Vietnamese people survived the war by hiding out there. The Tet Offensive was planned in one of the conference rooms built in the underground network of tunnels. Other highlights of the tour included firing an old Viet Cong AK-47, tasting the boiled tapioca eaten by those who lived in the tunnels (not a very sustainable diet, let me tell you!), and seeing the war from a very different perspective than the one taught in U.S. history classes. The tunnels themselves were very dark and extremely narrow – quite the leg workout to squat our way through!

Later that afternoon, I visited the famous Notre Dame Cathedral and the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, one of the nicest post offices I’ve ever seen! We found a small grocery store, which I love visiting for comparative purposes – they didn’t have much that I even recognized, although they did have strawberry cream Oreos, which I had never seen before! For my last purchases in Vietnam, I took advantage of the vast selection of extremely cheap DVDs for sale! I bought 3 movies and 13 seasons of television series for less than $25!

Despite the traffic, which only made things more interesting, the two days that I spent in Vietnam were very enjoyable! As you read above, my adventures in Cambodia along with my time in Vietnam made this port one of the best yet! It’s crazy to think that today, Vietnam is such a popular tourist destination when so recently it would never been a place that anyone from the U.S. would have visited. It certainly makes me wonder whether I will ever visit a place like Iraq or Afghanistan in the future…(don’t worry Mom and Daddy, I’m not actually thinking of going!)

Holy Cow, India!

Just after reaching the halfway point of our voyage around the world, we arrived in India. For me, it was definitely the best port we’ve visited…I only wish we could have stayed a few days longer! India is so unique, it might as well be its own planet! With over one billion people, the extremely diverse nation maintains a very rich culture despite the major economic changes occurring there. There really are no words or pictures that do India justice – it is something you absolutely must see, hear, smell (yes, smell!), taste and touch for yourself. For those of you who have traveled to India, you’ll understand…for everyone else, bear with me, as this was a difficult blog post to pull together! Warning, it’s a long one…

What we did

Upon arrival in Chennai, the ship underwent many preparations: cardboard boxes and plastic were put down to protect the carpets from the dirt on our shoes, the pool deck was closed off to protect our lungs from the pollution, and herds of Indian immigration workers filed onto the ship for the duration of our stay. Immigration and visa regulations are very tight in India, probably the strictest of any country we have visited so far. As soon as we could get off the ship, my friends and I were bombarded by auto rickshaw drivers (if you don’t know what an auto rickshaw is, Google it), and squeezed four of us in the back of one to head out and do some exploring! I only had about two hours before I had to be back on the ship to meet my group for our flight…and in those two hours, I managed to get COVERED in dirt and grime! Welcome to India :)

Over the summer, before I knew anyone else on the trip, I found some people on Facebook who were organizing a trip to the Taj Mahal and Varanasi, so I jumped on! Turns out, several of the people that also signed up over the summer became close friends of mine throughout our voyage…we had an absolute blast traveling through India together! Thirty of us flew from Chennai to Delhi, arriving just after sun down. Although we didn’t have much time to explore Delhi, we were able to see the Presidential Palace and the India Gate, a memorial dedicated to the 90,000 Indian soldiers who fought and died for the British in World War I. We had a delicious Indian dinner and stayed the night in Delhi.

We awoke very early to catch a train from Delhi to Agra the next morning. Riding the train was interesting because we were able to see a lot of the countryside from the windows. Although I was tempted to sleep since it was so early in the morning, I forced myself to stay awake and take in all of my surroundings – and boy was there a lot to see! Our first stop in Agra was Fatehpur Sikri, a palace built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar when it was prophesized that he would soon have a son. After lunch, we visited the Red Fort, built by Emperor Shahjahan between 1638 and 1648. From the fort, we had our first view of the Taj Mahal, as well as entertainment from the monkeys running around as if they owned the place! The highlight of our day was visiting the Taj later that afternoon and staying for sunset. Walking through the archway and seeing the magnificent Taj peek through was a breathtaking moment. The Taj itself is incredibly majestic; its magnitude and beauty are indescribable. We waited on line for about 30 minutes to be able to enter the building itself – there were several Indians there who were experiencing their first visit to the Taj, too. I learned two related lessons that day: 1) Indians do not understand the concept of lines or waiting one’s turn, and 2) THEY PUSH. The inside of the Taj Mahal was very dark, as we were quickly approaching sunset by the time we fought our way inside. The Taj serves as a tomb for Shahjahan’s wife, whose two requests upon death were 1) that he would never remarry and 2) that he would build her a beautiful resting place. He certainly succeeded, as the Taj is one of the most stunning buildings in the entire world! Other than her tomb, the inside of the Taj was not nearly as spectacular as its outer façade.

After dinner and a bit of shopping in Agra, we went back to the train station to board the overnight sleeper train to Varanasi. Again, there really are no words to describe this experience – each compartment of our car had 8 beds (each wall have three tiers of beds, and across there were two beds). Although there were 30 of us riding this train, our “seats” were not all in the same place. So we had two Indians sleeping in our compartment with us, too. After we got over the initial shock of the train itself, we had a fine time. When we awoke in the morning, we were served the best tea I have ever tasted! And we saw a lot of interesting things while on board, such as people running holding onto the train and others climbing up to the roof, just like in Slumdog Millionaire. Although not luxury accommodations, it was a very interesting experience to travel as the locals do themselves!

By the time our delayed train finally arrived in Varanasi, it was about lunchtime. After lunch, we drove out to Sarnath, just outside of Varanasi. We visited the museum there, which was full of statues of Buddha and also the original 4-headed lion statue that serves as the emblem of India and can be found on all of their money. All of the artifacts found in the British-built museum were excavated at a nearby site, which we were able to walk through after our museum visit. Sarnath is remembered as the place where Buddha gave his first speech after becoming enlightened. We visited the tree that is said to be a descendant of the tree under which Buddha’s first speech was given, just behind the Mulgandha Kuti Vihar temple. Although Buddhism was born in India, it is not widely practiced there anymore – the overwhelming majority of Indians are Hindu (80%), and there is also a large Muslim population, too.

After our tour of Sarnath, we drove back into the heart of Varanasi, where we rode in pairs on the old-fashioned rickshaws (think of a horse-drawn carriage minus the horse plus a man pedaling a bike) about 30 minutes to the Ganges River. The Ganges River is one of the holiest places in the world for Hindus, and is the place where they cremate many dead bodies. We arrived at the Ganges during sunset, and stayed to watch the spiritual ceremony called Aarti. Seven priests conduct this ritual every evening after the sun goes down.

We paid one more visit to the Ganges River the following morning for a sunrise boat ride up and down the river. Varanasi (also called Benares) is said to be one of the oldest living cities in the world. As Mark Twain once wrote: "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” Varanasi is also known as “the city of learning and burning;” learning for the many institutions of higher education found there, and burning since it is the only city in India where cremations are allowed to occur at night as well as during the daytime. We saw thousands of people bathing in the holy water that morning, and the entire scene was so spiritual and different from anything I had ever seen. Varanasi was really a highlight of the trip for me, as it seemed so pure and traditional compared to some of the bigger cities in India.

We were treated to a traditional Indian dance demonstration that afternoon. Although rather informal, our introduction to Kathak was very entertaining. The only style of Indian dance I had ever seen was Bollywood on So You Think You Can Dance, so I thoroughly enjoyed this short performance. We had a bit of free time before lunch, so two friends and I went in search of a post office to buy stamps. We walked by the small post office building at least three times before realizing that just because it was a shack did not mean it wasn’t the post office. The three of us wiped them clean of stamps for the day! After lunch, we went to the Varanasi airport to catch our flight back to Chennai via Delhi. The Varanasi airport was a one-room operation that reminded me more of a Greyhound or local subway station! In comparison, the Delhi international airport could have been found in any major Western city (which was lucky for us as our flight was delayed on top of the layover that we already had there).

On our final day in India, I attended a Semester at Sea field practicum that brought us into one of the slums in Chennai. Unlike the overt poverty that can be seen all through the streets of India, those living in the slums definitely had a bit of a better life. A man who works for the Montfort Community Development Program guided our tour of the slum. They sponsor several initiatives such as empowerment of women through microfinancing, educational opportunities for ex-child laborers, exam preparation for students who dropped out or failed out of secondary education, integrated community programs for people with mental disabilities, and programs for senior citizens. We visited many of these initiatives during our tour. The most touching moment of the day was visiting the community center for mentally challenged kids – we heard one girl’s story (she could not speak, but her teacher relayed the story to us) about her trip to Ireland to participate in the Special Olympics there, and how she won a medal for playing basketball. Although she could not tell us the story in her own words, the smile on her face and the excitement running through her body were extremely visible to us all.

What we ate

Having been introduced to Indian food back home a few years ago, India was a paradise for me! While others complained of the spices and smells, I was very happy eating whatever they put in front of me. I didn’t even have to order, they just brought all of our meals out to us, and everything was scrumptious! The street food smelled unbelievably delicious, but we were warned to stay away from that. There were notably fewer American fast food restaurants even in the cities of India as compared with other countries that we have visited so far. Plus, McDonalds cannot serve hamburgers in India, as the cows are holy animals and it is prohibited to slaughter them (and yes, they do roam freely in the streets, and cars do stop for them to cross).

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India is truly the craziest place I have ever been. Although I absolutely loved my visit, there were many things that made India an uncomfortable place to be. The heat and pollution were at times very oppressive; like many other conservative cultures, it was respectful for women to remain covered – making the 90+ degree weather even hotter! The extreme poverty was very saddening, and the worst part was that there was NOTHING we could do about it. Many of child beggars work for gangs, further validating the portrayal of India in Slumdog Millionaire, so giving them food or money would have only perpetuated the system of begging. Another chilling element in India was the ubiquitous prevalence of swastikas, originally a Hindu symbol dating back thousands of years. The 20th century gave this ancient symbol a very different meaning, so seeing it everywhere took a bit of getting used to.

India has a very densely distributed population of 1.2 billion people, the second largest in the world. As it grows and continues to develop economically, I hope that its immense diversity and rich culture don’t fade. To sum up: Indian food = GOOD, Indian smells = BAD, India overall = uncomfortable yet unbelievably amazing! More from Vietnam…

Spring Break 2009 – Mauritius

Technically since Mauritius is in the southern hemisphere, mid-October is spring break time! To break up our stretch at sea from South Africa to India, we stopped for a very relaxing three days in Mauritius. Mauritius, an island off the coast of Madagascar, is one of the economic successes of Africa. It attracts many tourists with its beautiful beaches and well-preserved coral reefs. Additionally, its textiles, coffee and sugar cane are widely exported. Most of the tourists we saw were from India and Dubai, although the French influence on the island definitely attracts many Europeans, too. Despite the relative economic success of the island as compared with other failing African states, it appeared that much of the population has yet to reap the benefits of growth. For instance, some friends and I rented a large house just off the beach for only 8 euro per night, and our landlord Harold kept the money that we paid him in a drawer in the kitchen. We were all very glad that none of our belongings were stolen from the house – we only had one set of keys for all ten of us that stayed there, so we ended up doing a lot of climbing through windows! If us amateurs could easily “break in,” we were worried that anyone else would also be able to do so.

After all of the traveling we did in South Africa, it was nice to just lie on a gorgeous beach for a few days. The weather was absolutely beautiful! For three days, I alternated working on my tan, eating delicious food and swimming in the Indian Ocean…a wonderful vacation! We spent our time in Mauritius on the northern part of the island in Grand Baie, about a half hour taxi ride from Port Louis, where the ship docked. I took my first water taxi to get from the ship across to the main waterfront area, which was quite an experience. They packed over thirty of us with all of our bags onto a tiny motorboat, and the driver chain-smoked cigarettes while simultaneously collecting our money AND driving the boat. When in Mauritius…

While relaxing on the beach, we tasted fresh pineapple, mango and coconut…all delicious! On our first night, we went to an outdoor beach venue where there was a live band playing reggae and Mauritian music. We had fun tubing on our last day at the beach, but the water was so calm that it was a rather mellow ride. In addition to wonderful tropical fruits, Mauritian food consisted of a melting pot of several others, including mainly French, Chinese, and Indian.

Mauritius is definitely not a popular destination for visitors from the United States since it is so far away and hard to get to as compared to the islands of the Caribbean. Although not nearly as culturally enriching as some of our previous or future ports, it was a great stop, albeit short. It was sad to disembark from our last African port, but I can honestly say that I am even more excited for what’s to come in Asia! In just a few days, we’ll be crossing the equator back into the northern hemisphere and reaching India!

Would Timon and Pumba be friends in real life? (SOUTH AFRICA)

Believe it or not, one of my friends actually asked our safari guide this question – I hope you all know the answer. South Africa was absolutely amazing…this trip just keeps getting better and better as we go along. We had six full days in the beautiful port of Cape Town, and just about every minute of every day (and every night) was accounted for. The only thing missing – sleep! But who would rather sleep than do all of this?!

What we did

I awoke very early on Saturday morning to watch the sunrise as we approached the shore of Cape Town. Table Mountain prominently stood out from a distance, and serves as a breathtaking background to the entire city. We were lucky to arrive on a clear morning, when Table Mountain was not shrouded by a “tablecloth” of clouds, as it was on other mornings during our stay. The waterfront area at which we were docked is highly developed…many restaurants, gift shops and live bands could be found just a few steps from the ship. It was a nice change of pace from having to rely on shuttle buses to get out of the industrial ports of Casablanca and Tema!

On our first day in Cape Town, I visited two wine estates as part of a business class that I am taking on the ship. There are several vineyards just about an hour outside of the city, as the climate in South Africa lends itself well to wine production, especially red wines. We toured the vineyards, learned about the different production processes, and heard about the various marketing techniques and sustainability initiatives that are occurring in the wine industry today. The landscapes were absolutely stunning, and we luckily arrived in Cape Town on the first nice day they had seen in months (since South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, it is early spring there). Part of our tours included a wine tasting, where we got to taste Pinotage, a type of red wine produced only in South Africa.

The next morning, a friend and I visited Green Point Market, a craft fair open every Sunday in Cape Town. They had some really interesting paintings, wood carvings, beadwork, etc. I loved the unique products sold here, especially compared to the mass produced souvenirs sold in the waterfront gift shops. Later that day, we met a friend of mine, Landon, from Penn who is studying abroad in Cape Town this semester. He climbed Table Mountain with us, which took a little over 2 hours. We felt VERY accomplished when we finally reached the top, as it was a pretty rigorous hike! Unfortunately the view from the top was not great due to cloud cover, but we were able to see our ship from the revolving cable car that we took down the mountain! We also paid a visit to the local grocery store to stock up on snacks! I always like visiting grocery stores in other countries to see what different types of products they sell. I spent some time in the candy aisle – I just HAD to taste the South African specialties!

The following day, we visited Robben Island, the spot where political prisoners were sent during the Apartheid. To reach the island, you have to take a 30-minute ferry from the waterfront in Cape Town. On our way to the island, we caught a nice glimpse of the stadium that is currently undergoing renovations for the World Cup next summer. Upon arriving on Robben Island, we boarded buses for a tour of the island. We saw the quarries in which prisoners spent their days working, homes and schools used by the wardens and their families, and quite a bit of wildlife including an ostrich, penguins and many birds. Then, we reached the maximum-security prison, where our guide, Parks, greeted us. He, like all of the other guides on the island, was a former prisoner – he served seven and a half years on Robben Island for charges of political terrorism. He told us about the horrible conditions that the prisoners were forced to endure, and he explained that the wardens kept a very close eye and ear on their conversations and actions to prevent any uprisings. We saw Nelson Mandela’s prison cell, where he spent 18 out of his 27 years of imprisonment. Also, in the courtyard, we saw where Mandela hid his book, Long Walk to Freedom, while he was writing it. What fascinated me most about the tour was how our guide explained that several ex-prisoners live on the island to this day, and give tours as he does. I cannot imagine choosing to live on the same island, with the same view of Cape Town just across the harbor, as I was forced to in captivity for any length of time. Parks even told us that he is now friendly with several of the wardens by whom he used to be beaten and chastised. It was really neat to leave the island by boat, just as the prisoners did when they were released in 1991.

Five of my friends and I spent the next two days on a safari! We flew up to Port Elizabeth, on the Eastern Cape, about an hour flight. Unlike my hour flight between Philadelphia and Boston, we received a full meal and complimentary coffee on South African Express Airways! From the airport, it was about another hour’s drive to NDuNA Lodge, where we spent the night. The staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating; they picked us up at the airport and from that moment until we went through security to fly back to Cape Town, they were absolutely attentive to us. The lodge and property itself were spectacular – NDuNA has only been open since the beginning of 2009, and we were one of very few groups of people from the US to visit. We spent the entire afternoon riding quad bikes along the trails and spotting animals! NDuNA so far only has herbivores, which is why guests are allowed to ride around on their own. We spotted giraffe, ostrich, springbuck, zebra, and all sorts of others! That evening, we were surprised by a group of six local South African teens, who put on a traditional dance show for us before dinner. We were the only guests at the lodge that night, so we really had the place to ourselves! We all slept very comfortably that night, for the first time since arriving in Cape Town. When I woke up the next morning, I sat on the porch outside of room and admired the most gorgeous view…I can see why they have hosted several weddings there!

They took us to another game reserve nearby the next day so that we could see the bigger animals that NDuNA has not yet brought in (although they plan to do so in the future as they expand). We went for a four-hour game drive, and spotted so many animals! Our guide got us so close to the animals – I couldn’t believe it! We saw tons of warthogs, springbuck and impala. We saw giraffe, zebra, elephants, too! The coolest part of the day was how close we got to the lions…we could see the remains of their last meal, so our guide said it was safe to be in close proximity to them. They had a very rare white lion there too, which was absolutely beautiful! After this experience, going to a zoo will never ever be the same again. I had to remind myself several times that I wasn’t watching the Discovery Channel, but rather actually seeing these beautiful animals up close! We flew back to Cape Town late that night in time to enjoy our last night in South Africa!

What we ate

The better question here should really be what DIDN’T we eat. I’ve had some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten here in South Africa. Both the waterfront and downtown areas have some delicious restaurants, and then of course there were the incredibly decadent meals we were so graciously served on our safari. For exotic foods, I tried an ostrich fillet, warthog, kudu, springbuck, octopus, a kudu burger…and of course enjoyed the fresh meat and seafood that can be found nearly everywhere here.

At NDuNA, we had an unforgettable dinner (breakfast and lunch were not too shabby, either!). The chef there prepared our meal and heated it up in the fireplace right in front of us. The hospitality at NDuNA was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before! Similarly, we paused during our game drive on the second day for lunch – which we expected to be a pre-made sandwich or something – and to our surprise, we were fed a three course lunch! I could get used to that…

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South Africa, as a legacy of Apartheid, is an extremely divided and unequal society. As a tourist you likely would not notice this, because on the outside, the infrastructure and the cities seem to be very built up. However, if you venture just beyond the beautiful veneer of the waterfront area or of downtown Cape Town, you will easily find that the majority of the nation is living in extreme poverty. People in South Africa are hopeful that as time goes on, the two separate and unequal economies will continue to mesh and become one strong economic power. Although Apartheid legally ended more than a decade ago, there remain many obstacles for South Africa to overcome. These stark contrasts made South Africa a very interesting place to visit. So far, it was my favorite port – but there are so many more to come! More from Mauritius…

Greetings from Cape Town!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I've added new pictures to the album posted earlier...and that my update from South Africa will be coming soon!

Neptune Day!

As of yesterday, September 26, 2009, I am no longer a pollywog but rather I am a shellback. What? In plain English, we crossed the equator! Long-standing naval traditions in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere commemorate one’s first crossing of the equator with a very special ceremony. Semester at Sea’s own version of this line-crossing tradition was no exception. Our Captain, King Neptune was painted all green, wore nothing but a Speedo and a grass skirt, and carried a pitchfork like the one held by Ariel’s father in The Little Mermaid. Those students, faculty and staff who had never crossed the equator were “summoned” to the pool deck to appear before King Neptune, undergo “torture,” and finally be dubbed shellbacks. I partook in the ceremony, including getting imitation fish guts (aka a corn syrup, salt water and food coloring mixture) dumped on my head, jumping into the pool, and kissing a dead fish. Another tradition is to shave one’s head upon crossing the equator, but I opted out of this part for obvious reasons…since my name is already often mistaken for a boy’s, I don’t need a boy’s haircut, too ☺ Despite the silliness of the morning, crossing the equator by ship is something that few people can say they’ve done…I will soon have a certificate as proof that I did! I’ll have to compare it with my Grandpa Ron’s certificate, as he told me that he still has his from many years ago! Rumor has it that not only did we cross the equator, but we crossed at exactly the point where the Prime Meridian and the equator intersect…I have not been able to verify this yet, though. Either way, greetings from the other half of the world!

Obamania in Ghana?!

As our voyage continues, it becomes harder and harder to capture and summarize my experiences. The further we sail from home, the more eye opening and indescribable each moment becomes. Ghana was so different from anywhere or anything I’ve ever been or seen. Since it was Semester at Sea’s first visit to the country, we were not given a very detailed picture or what to expect before we arrived. The four days that we spent docked in Tema (near the capital city of Accra) certainly exceeded any expectations I may have had! Although colonized by the British (Ghana gained its independence in 1957), roaming the streets or driving down the country’s numerous dirt roads, it’s hard to see the lasting effects. Nearly everyone speaks English as a result of British rule, but it oftentimes felt as if people were speaking a foreign language. In some ways, it appeared that the country had not been touched by Western civilization – the dirt roads, the women carrying everything from pineapples to plastic bags of drinking water atop their heads, the outdoor bars with plastic chairs and tables, goats and chickens along the street and the telephone wires attached to tree trunks rather than metal poles to name a few. However, while spending a day outside of the city, we saw a young child whose cell phone’s ring tone was a popular Akon song in the U.S. It’s truly amazing to see what fragments of Western culture hold up in a society with such a rich traditional culture of its own.

Remember how excited everyone got this summer when the Obama family vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard? Well the Ghanaians have taken their infatuation with President Obama to a whole new level. Forget about the shirts that Vineyarders sold in August – Obama has billboards in Accra, U.S. flags and traditional Ghanaian garb with his face imprinted, soccer jerseys, key chains, bumper stickers and the list goes on. The friendly faces that we met all over Ghana were thrilled to have visitors from the U.S., and very eager to tell us time and time again just how much they love Obama. I think Obama has more popular support in Africa than in his own country!

What we did

On Tuesday, our first day in Ghana, we explored the city of Accra for the afternoon. On our shuttle ride from Tema to Accra, we saw the following being sold by people on the streets: water, plantain chips, ties, full-size flags, bed linens, baby toys, poster maps of Africa, jewelry, cuff links, newspapers, and more…Ghanaians can never have an excuse for showing up to a party empty handed with all of the crap they can buy en route! We also saw several signs for the Ghana Marathon, which we only missed by two days – too bad! I’m not sure I would have held up in the heat though…very different from the icy streets of Philadelphia last November!

We visited a market where locals shop for food, clothes, and pirated DVDs (Ghana does not have copyright laws like the U.S., so they can sell ANYTHING – we saw Lost Season 5 for sale, for example. A friend of mine bought a copy of the Hangover, and to our surprise it actually worked!). I swear that I saw some of the clothes that I’ve donated to Goodwill over the years for sale there! That night, my friends and I met up with my long-time friend Ezra, who is spending the semester in Ghana. Ezra and I have known each other for upwards of 15 years at this point, but we haven’t seen each other in probably 3 or 4 years – it was wild to see him halfway around the world when we only like about 30 minutes away from each other back home! He and Annie, both studying abroad in Ghana and traveled to Israel with me in 2005, showed us around Osu, a newer district of Accra.

The next day, we awoke bright and early to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Ghana. One of the most important lessons we learned while in Ghana is the lack of appropriate estimation of time – what our bus driver told us might be a two-hour ride turned into 4 hours through some of the bumpiest, unpaved roads I’ve ever seen! Although travel took up most of our day, we did make some good progress on one of the houses in the community. I like to think of myself as a pretty hardy, fairly strong gal – I quickly learned that I am not cut out for the African heat, OR manual labor. We spent our time there mortaring the bricks for the foundation of a small home (which will take 2 weeks to complete), eating lunch prepared by inhabitants of the community, playing with some of the kids, and sweating profusely! On our long drive back, we stopped off at a cocoa farm, one of Ghana’s main exports. After a long day of travel and hard work, we stayed near the ship and explored Tema instead of venturing back to Accra.

I spent much of the day Thursday propping up the Ghanaian economy by buying gifts and souvenirs! My favorite stop of the day was at a store called Global Mamas, an organization that helps female entrepreneurs open small businesses throughout Africa. Not only were the handmade crafts unique, but what better gifts to bring home than those whose proceeds go to help better the lives of African women? We also tasted plantain chips from the local grocery store and drank water from plastic bags like the locals do!

On our final day in Ghana, we visited the Osu Children’s Home, a very chilling experience. The Home provides housing, food and education for nearly 250 children aged infant to 23. We did some painting and cleaning there, and visited with the young children who were not off at local public schools for the day. The children were so eager for attention from us…there are so many of them that it is clearly too hard for each to be held and receive individual attention daily. It was truly heartbreaking to see them cry when we had to leave. After lunch, we returned to donate Semester at Sea t-shirts and school supplies to them. We were able to walk through the nursery, where there were dozens of babies in cribs. It is very hard to put this day into more words, but it was definitely one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

What we ate

As Ezra and Annie shared with us on the first night, Ghanaian food is nothing to write home about. They don’t have many special dishes, but chicken, rice and fish are the staples of their diet. Plantains in all forms are available everywhere on the streets. We actually had really good Chinese food in Ghana! The best thing I ate in Ghana was a pineapple that I bought on the street…it certainly rivaled our favorite fruit cart in Philadelphia! After the kind lady peeled and cut it up for me, I tasted the sweetest pineapples I’ve ever eaten! Too bad they wouldn’t pass through customs to bring some home…

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Ghana is one of those places that I would LOVE to visit again to see how it is different in the future. It seems to be on the verge of enduring a multitude of changes, as it is one of the more advanced African nations. Hopefully my Malarone pills and my 98.99% DEET insect repellant did the trick to ward off Malaria! Ghana was great, and I can’t wait for our next stop: Capetown, South Africa!

Check out my photos!

Here is a link to a few photos that I've been able to upload...Enjoy!

Highlights from Semester at Sea!