India Part I

A Street In India

Look left. Quickly look right. No…three rickshaws coming quickly. Run immediately after they’ve gone by. No…eight motorcycles rapidly passing.
Ok, should we go now? Three lanes to cross. A couple cars race by. Now it’s changed to four lanes, because a rickshaw driver’s driving down the center line.
Three motorcyclists drive across the curb, narrowly missing my feet.
A rickshaw driver suddenly cuts off a bus. Should we go? YES! One of us starts rapidly running across the…NO LOOK OUT! A couple rickshaws appear out of nowhere!
Don’t stop, keep going! No turning back! This is insane.

2 MINUTES LATER

Look left. Quickly look right. Three of us are still in the exact same spot. Should we go now? Nope…a cow is trotting down the middle of the road. Whatever you do, DON’T harm the cow! Hindus in India DO NOT take kindly to cow-damage.
Nothing. Empty street now. Let’s go! Nevermind, 2 rickshaws rapidly ascending, but what the hell…we can dodge them. Let’s go for it! No one lives forever! We dart across the street, and almost, ALMOST get hit by at least two rickshaws. Luckily we make it to the center of the highway, but that’s only halfway…we still have half the opposing traffic to cross.

Crossing a busy street in India is obviously fun.
This is part one of my India experience. Enjoy!

The night before we entered India, a few of us were relaxing on the 7th deck, gazing out at the stars. My friend Natalie’s comment concerning India was “Ok guys, let’s say goodbye to personal space!” She was correct.
There are tons of distinct sights, smells, emotions, people, and stories that one experiences when visiting such a foreign country like India. I’m sure that every person on this ship either really loved or really hated India. Guess which category I fall in?

After docking in the city of Chennai and going through the extensive immigration/customs process, a big group of us took our first steps onto Indian soil…into the humid, thick, 100-degree India heat. Military officials swarmed our dock with really large guns. They set up fences that blocked the ship from any unwelcome guests, and the military officers had to check our ship ID, customs sheet, and immigration forms every time we left and entered the ship.

Our first destination was the Spencer Shopping Plaza in the center of Chennai. My friend Kyle and I decided to be rickshaw buddies. According the incredibly flawed map of Chennai we picked up on the ship, the plaza wasn’t too far away, so this bicycle driver ran up to us with hopes of driving us. We began bargaining with this driver because he had two seats empty on the back of his bike. We bargained him down to 100 rupees a person (44 rupees = 1 dollar), but instead of taking us to the shopping plaza, he drove us about ½ a mile down the road to the main dock gate, where a bunch of rickshaw drivers were waiting for us. We started arguing but it was no use…we agreed to pay bicycle driver 100 rupees…we were totally ripped off. We then had to make a deal with the rickshaw driver, and then argued with him the entire way to the shopping plaza, for he wanted to take us around the city and bring us to his friend’s store instead. This is not uncommon for most rickshaw drivers. Later on in the day, another rickshaw driver would only take us back to the ship if he brought us to a shop first, because he gets paid by the owner if he brings people over to shop.

A rickshaw drive in India is just as exciting as crossing a major intersection. The drivers drive where THEY want to, that means getting literally inches away from hitting cars, other rickshaws, buses, cows (yes, they’re everywhere), and people. The traffic patterns evidently permit anyone to pass anyone…even if there isn’t enough room to pass (somehow nobody usually gets killed on a regular basis).

Back to my story. We luckily made it straight to the shopping plaza, and after spending about 15 minutes in the music store while a cool employee helped me find some awesome India pop music, Kyle and I found our friends Mark, Dorothy, and Chad walking around the mall…obviously not everybody’s rickshaw driver took them straight to the mall, because we were still missing about 8 friends or so.

Before talking about our lunch, let me comment on some general things about India:

- It IS really dirty there. By the time we left, there was a couple centimeters of dirt covering the outside of the ship (and hopefully you remember me talking about the crew’s insane amounts of cleaning on this vessel). Just think about it…we were only in port for five days and it was THAT dirty, think about how much dirt and smog these people are inhaling on a daily basis.

- We were obviously told NOT to drink any water, but some bottled water is even risky (people apparently like filling up bottles in their bathtubs and such).
We couldn’t eat fresh fruits/vegetables (including salads), dairy products (sadly including milkshakes), or drink the local beer. Granted, I could eat whatever I want, but I didn’t want to take too many chances.
The only things that were 100% safe to drink were pop (soda for you non-Pittsburghers) or international beer, and since I really didn’t feel like drinking alcohol, I probably drank more pop here than I have in the past year, since I’m not a big pop-drinker.

- The people in India are all very curious. I was asked my name and where I’ve come from by tons of people over the 5 days we were visiting. Many of these people were beggars and/or sellers and needed the money, but many others were simply nice, friendly, curious people. I talked to tons of people while visiting, and that really helps one understand the cultural aspects of the country.

- Animals are everywhere. Throughout my time in the country I saw cows, bulls, monkeys, tons of goats, stray dogs, lizards, huge rats, and squirrels.


Back to my story.

We ate lunch at an Indian fast food restaurant in the food court, and then began shopping some more. I was able to find some nice gifts for people at home, and also surprisingly found myself a SONIC YOUTH shirt at the department store in the mall. I’m not sure if you realize the magnitude of this discovery.
Sonic Youth’s my all-time favorite band…the only band whose name I’ll wear on a t-shirt They’re not that popular in the US, so the fact that I found a shirt on the first day in India is seriously amazing, and it totally made my day! It’s a really, REALLY nice shirt too…even my friends thought it was really funny that I found that, since I wear a Sonic Youth shirt every few days on ship. All of us guys ended up buying clothes, while Dorothy, the only girl in the group, didn’t buy anything.
Anyways, we eventually found more friends of ours, and we all began wondering the mall together. We passed a cookie bakery, and the smell possessed many of us to buy some tasty treats. The smell actually reminded me of my mom’s cookies around Christmas time. Delicious! I split an assorted bag of cookies with Chad and continued to munch on them for the rest of our shopping experience.

After a nice day of shopping, we all split up again, and me, Kyle, Matt, and Mark decided to just walk around the city and see what we can find along the main road. The entire time walking, we’d get tons of looks from other people. We were the outsiders…the “other.” It’s a very odd feeling, but I thought it was neat to be the complete minority. After an hour or so, we decided to get some dinner at the Taj Hotel. We grabbed another rickshaw and forced him to take us straight to the fancy, awesome hotel.
Luckily Matt and Kyle bought some button-down shirts at the mall, because we all felt pretty underdressed. We stopped in the bathroom, changed into our nice shirts, and then walked downstairs to the nice, empty restaurant (it was still early). We ordered a meat platter with a couple of side orders. It was all expensive, yet really good. By the time we finished, it was dark, and we had to make it back to the ship because two people in the group had to make it back for SAS trips.

We arrived back around 8ish, and by my standards that’s pretty early. We’re only in India for five days…I wanted to stay out as much as possible, but unfortunately nobody else wanted to leave the confines of the ship (which was pretty weak).

India’s well-known for filmmaking. They’re film industry is actually bigger than Hollywood. They produce around 800 or so films every year. I’d heard that going to a movie theater in India was an experience. I heard that the theater’s are huge…they’re cheap…they serve you food while you watch the movie on these comfortable, cushiony seats, and the experience is like no other. I found out this night that these rumors were lies…at least in Chennai.

I left the ship and went out by myself to find the nearest movie theater. The rickshaw driver took me to the Casino, a filthy, old theater located in the shadiest part of town. I originally told him that I’d give him 50 rupees to take me there, but after dropping me off, he demanded 200 rupees.
I told him “No. I said 50,” and held out the 50 rupees, but he refused to take it. “No…200 rupees. I need money; spend gas.”
“I told you 50…only 50.” He wouldn’t budge, so after a few minutes, I threw 100 rupees on his seat and walked away to buy my ticket at the main window.

The theater only showed one film, and luckily it was starting in a little bit. I paid 50 rupees (a little over one dollar), and walked up to my balcony seat. The main theater hall was easily the biggest one I’ve even sat in. It wasn’t that nice at all (actually it was pretty dirty), but the screen was HUGE, and the balcony eventually became packed with people.
Just like in the US, they showed some advertisements before the movie started, but they consisted of old slides that were projected on the screen, just like the slides shown to us in elementary school science films. Instead of previews before the feature presentation, they showed a short film on HIV. They spoke in Hindi, so the only reason I knew it was about HIV was the poster I noticed on the back wall of the doctor’s office. India’s actually the 2nd most-infected HIV region of the world, after South Africa. Soon the movie started.
The language spoken in the film was Tamil, which was fine because I didn’t want to see an English-spoken film. I was hoping for a nice, Bollywood-like comedy/musical, but instead I got this incredibly weird movie that began like a violent Tarantino-like film where EVERYONE was getting shot, then transformed to a cheesy romantic comedy, then became a violent thriller. I left during the intermission, because I literally had no clue what was happening in the film, for it literally had 5 subplots, and it was only halfway over. The movie looked like it was made 20 years ago, but apparently it was brand new. Still, the halfway point was an hour and a half into the movie, and it was nearing 12 o’clock, so I chose to leave.
The sound in the theater was SO loud, mainly because people in the crowd constantly talked through the entire film. People were on their cell phones, while others were yelling and whistling to friends seated on the other side of the room. All of the people around me talked to themselves, and many tried to start a conversation with me too. It was certainly a cultural experience, but it also allowed me to watch the weirdest film I’ve ever seen.

Like I said before, I was in the shadiest part of town, so it was somewhat-nerve-racking finding a rickshaw driver in the dark, alleyway-like streets. Even though I don’t enjoy traveling by myself, I still think that a person learns a lot about oneself when traveling alone, so walking around the foggy streets alone, searching for a rickshaw, I guess one could call that an “educational experience.” I made it back home by 12:30 and collapsed in my bed.

I woke up early the second day in India to meet up with my friend Matt (from Lewisburg, PA) in the dining hall to discuss the plans for the day. The day ultimately consisted of six of us traveling to the small town of Mamalapullam (spelling?). We rented a cab driver for the day, and visited this village where we explored caves, unexpectedly visited a stone carving school, toured both the Shore Temple and the Five Pillars structure (both of which are over 1000 years old), and also had time to talk to some Indian children during their school recess. After visiting these places, Matt and I ate at this small village restaurant while Jess, Steph, Matt, and Kara explored the shops around the area.

(me exploring the temple caves)

We then took the hour-long cab drive back to the safe confines of the ship near the city. On our way home, our driver almost ran over a pack of goats crossing the street.
Earlier in the day, a few of us were wondering what would happen if someone hit a cow while driving. We almost found out when a huge herd of cows charged across the road, and narrowly missed hitting our van.

(Hanging out while visiting the Five Pillars)

It was early evening, but that was ok, because I had to start packing for my village home stay trip I booked through SAS. We were leaving at 10 o’clock to catch a sleeper train at the train station, so I had to scurry along and make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything.

In my next entry I’ll talk about all of my home stay adventures (it was unbelievable), as well as the adventures of the last day. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again before Malaysia, but we’ll see…no promises folks.

I’m in the computer lab right now. A bunch of students totally decked out in traditional India garb just walked by. Granted there are a FEW white kids on the ship that can pull off Indian clothing, as a whole though, the clothing honestly looks incredibly ridiculous on most of these students (I’m not talking about a simple shirt…I’m talking about the whole shebang). Seriously if I were Indian, I’d be severely offended. If I were home and saw white kids walking down the street in some of these clothes, I’d just laugh. The clothes are BEAUTIFUL, but the students are seriously just kidding themselves.

Now this girl won’t get her hand off the back of my chair. She's moving it around as if I'm not really sitting here. She’s watching her friend next to me surf the internet, and she’s taken a cue from India about personal space, except she has no excuse. She’s REALLY loud too. That’s my cue to go down to bed.

To be continued…

P.S. – I’ve been kind of disappointed in the quality of photos I’ve been taking, BUT I have at least 6-7 hours of video, and that doesn’t include most of Brazil (in which I couldn’t bring my video camera out) or the Bahamas. A lot of the video looks pretty decent too. We still have Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego, and I plan on taping as much as possible. I’ll probably edit all of my footage together as soon as I get home, but until then, I’m not planning on watching anything.

It's 1 AM and I'm Bored, So Here's Another Post

Shipboard life between Mauritius and India has been an interesting experience, so I felt it was appropriate to comment on some general things aboard the ship: classes, partying, Sea Olympics, and other random shenanigans. Hopefully after reading this you’ll all feel like you’re really here (unless you’re in the freezing temperatures of Pittsburgh of course…that kinda makes it impossible to feel the thick air and intense equator temperatures).

The seas HAVE calmed down...thank god. Sleeping has been wonderful and relaxing (but more on that later).

So, our first day back on the ship was the Spring 2007 Sea Olympics. It’s kind of a big deal I guess. Each hall of students has their own sea, and each sea competes in about 12 or so events throughout the day (we had no classes).

It was a pretty fun day I guess. The first place prize for the winning sea is getting off the ship first in San Diego. Honestly, I could care less when I get off the ship, and that’s a good thing, because my sea tied for dead last. I know, I know, we’re a bunch of losers.

The only event I participated in all day was the big Trivial Challenge. This was the game where Ben (honorable team captain), Matt (from PA), Bridget, and I totally blew the other teams out of the water and won first place. It was also the only event that our sea actually won, so at least the four of us did our part. We also unnecessarily dressed up, so the four of us decked out in ties not only helped us win, but it also made us appear incredibly stuck up. I loved it.
I have to say though, my favorite part of Sea Olympics was watching Desmund Tutu run around the Union with a paper torch while dancing to ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ You don’t see that everyday.


They’ve been doing some interesting stuff for us while at sea. We had a Casino night, which I spent playing Texas Hold’em for a few hours. We’ve also had many decent movie nights (some Finding Nemo, some V for Vendetta), and we’ve been breaking out the board games fairly often. Last night was a Q&A with the Captain and some crew members. Incredible, as expected. Some highlights:

STUDENT: What’s your favorite port we’re visiting?

CAPTAIN JEREMY: I’m especially partial to Hong Kong, since that’s where I met my current wife. But who knows…maybe in a couple of years I’ll hate the place.

STUDENT: Why is the temperature always so low on the ship (good question)? I’m always so cold.

CAPTAIN JEREMY: (while staring at her) Well judging by what you’re wearing, that really doesn’t surprise me.

Anyways. I’ve been jamming on my djembe with some other fellow musicians a few times in the piano lounge the past couple of ‘A’ days. It’s pretty fun, though we mostly play classic rock and other stuff that I’m not too familiar with. My friend Eric and I have jammed to some sweet indie rock with some other friends a few times out on the back deck at night, but it’s still not the same as playing a drum set. Still, sing-a-longs are fun.

CLASSES

Half of my classes are a lot of fun; the other half are pretty crappy. Global Studies. Seriously, we must attend this class every day and listen to this man who shouldn’t be public speaking speak. At least we got to hear Desmund Tutu speak for two days, which was pretty incredible. What isn’t so incredible is the fact that we were actually tested on his speech. It was a speech, not a lecture! Why would anyone want to take notes while having the fortunate opportunity of listening to the advice/ideas of this soon-to-be historical figure? His wife’s also on board now, and they seriously make the cutest couple.

I’m afraid to get too detailed about my other classes, for fear of professors or other people reading them…oh well.

My writing class and my Film Adaptations class are both taught by the same professor: David Amante. This guy is awesome. He’s an incredibly difficult grader, and he often expects A LOT from every student, but I’ve seriously learned so much about writing and film already, and the semester isn’t even over yet. He’s pretty fun, AND he seriously wears pink every day. He has pink t-shirts, pink polo shirts, pink jackets, pink hats, and I’m pretty sure he has a nice pair of pink slippers somewhere hidden in his cabin. Usually people who wear TOO MUCH pink make me nervous, but it definitely works for him. When asked why he wears so much pink, his reasoning was, “It’s a political statement.” Based on this answer, you can imagine how crazy his classes are. I also beat his wife at Trivial Challenge. She’s a really sweet lady.

My other class, Cinema and National Identity, is taught by this professor who seems nice, but she’s seriously the laziest professor ever. For example, during the last class, she informed us that she hasn’t been reading our papers, NOR will she for the rest of the semester. Instead she’ll simply grade each paper based on whether we completed the assignment or not. Keep in mind she’s a Communications professor. What a joke. We ask her questions in class about the films being viewed, and she doesn’t answer them. Instead her reaction usually is, “I don’t know. Maybe you should look it up.” We were supposed to have reading quizzes in the class too, but she scrapped those long ago, since she’d be forced to check all those papers. Too bad I don’t have her in the morning, because I’ve been told that she usually lets them out 45 minutes early every morning so that she can get back to sleep (that’s assuming she actually wakes up on time and such). I know, I know…I’m too critical.

Speaking of being too critical, are you ready for a rant? I’m ready for a rant

There are many kind, friendly, interesting people in this “shipboard community”, especially many of the older “lifelong learners” and some professors. There are also dozens and dozens of intelligent students who are wonderful people, and many that’ll definitely become wonderful leaders and successful individuals throughout their lives.

I was talking to someone last night about “insta-friends.” I remember back during the first 2 weeks or so where I had SO many insta-friends. Insta-friends are people who you hook up with and initially get along, basically because you have to. You don’t know anyone else around, so you hook up, but in the end you have nothing in common. Eventually you find the group that you fit in with more, and you stick with them. Later you find out that many, not all, but many of these insta-friends are complete douchebags.

There are tons of students who are on this trip because of their rich parents and/or they’re simply lucky, and I honestly can’t fathom what they’re gaining out of this life-changing voyage besides a free vacation.
Seriously, I can’t remember another time where I’ve used the term “bitches” to describe so many people. You just have to hear some of the stuff that comes out of these girls’ mouths…I’d post some quotes here, but unfortunately the outside world shouldn’t have to endure this kind of stupidity. Girls who are very pretty, but if for whatever reason you wanted to hang a picture on their heads and needed to tap their skulls, you’d seriously find some hollow shells. I totally understand that looks are certainly important and there’s nothing wrong with tanning and such, but when tanning out on the seventh deck is the highlight of ones day while traveling the world, then why travel the world?

The guys are MUCH, MUCH worse. For example, I overheard a group of guys talking in the lunch line the other day about how one of them got laid three, yes three times in one night with three different girls while in Capetown, and of course he had ALL of the details spilled out. I’ve also heard multiple stories of group orgies, drunken partying, public vomiting, and villa trashing while in Mauritius. The Academic Dean had to address it during our pre-port meeting tonight, and it was incredibly embarrassing to hear about the some of the horrible things some of these people did while in Mauritius…especially after the shipboard doctor and the executive dean address drunkenness during every pre-port meeting…disgusting.
I’ve also overheard some flattering, testosterone-filled shamanist and/or homophobic remarks while walking around the ship from guys who can be defined by the word “douchebag.” Seriously, how old are these people?
Let’s look at one example. The student life commitee held a “No Clothes” party up on the 7th deck the other night during “aft-ter hours.” I decided to run up and grab an ice cream cone at the bar, so I got to experience a lot of the party. The rules for a “No Clothes” party are that people had to wear anything EXCEPT clothes (towels, table cloths, flags, newspaper, etc). I felt overdressed to say the least. Now there’s nothing wrong with a party like this, except that our preport lecturer from India and his wife also traveled to the 7th deck to get some ice cream cones, and their looks were priceless. Seriously, I was so ready to apologize to them for the behavior taking place.

There’s clearly NOTHING wrong with partying and/or hooking up with others while on this trip, but give me a break. So many people shouldn’t be on this voyage. There are TONS of students around the US that SHOULD consider a trip like this, because it’ll be completely life-changing. Luckily there aren’t too many idiot people like this on the trip, and the good often outnumber the bad.

Let’s get back to a positive subject. Naps are also a usual part of my day, specifically between lunch and dinner. Naps are wonderful you know. I feel so refreshed afterwards.

The crew continues to be unbelievable to us all. Enough said.

That’s about it for now. I’ll be in India for the next few days. Most people are really nervous about India, but I’m honestly not nervous at all. Honestly I’m really excited! I’ll be in town for 2 days, then will travel via a sleeper train to this rural village outside the city and spend 2 or 3 days traveling around that area. When I return to Chennai, I’ll be visiting a Bollywood movie set on the last day. I really hope that I’ll have a good time, and find some good music, and maybe grab some Bollywood dvds. Most of all, I hope to have some sweet stories to tell you guys.

Take care everybody,
Ricky

It's a Milkshake Extravagenza!

Now for the part of my blog that you’ve all been waiting for:

MY MILKSHAKE RECAP

With the exception of the Bahamas and Brazil, I’ve had at least one vanilla milkshake in each country. It’s now time for me to compare, contrast, and rate the flavor, texture, and overall quality of each milkshake. Read on!

PUERTO RICO
Place: a crappy drink stand that I found the first day we arrived.
Grade: A-
Comments: This milkshake, served at a small drink stand, tasted almost the same as a milkshake from the states. It was thick, yet was still manageable to suck through a straw. There was even a cherry placed on top of it (bonus points)!

BRAZIL
Everything was closed for Carnival. I’ll try next time.

SOUTH AFRICA:
Place(s): Steers restaurant, Frozen Yogurt stand, Dodge City diner/restaurant
Grades: B, C, C+
Comments: Even though the milkshake I consumed at the Steers restaurant pit stop on the way to my safari was small, it was still delicious.
On the last day in port I tried a vanilla shake at the frozen yogurt stand in the food court of the mall nearby, but it was pretty tasteless. Literally…no taste. The milkshake I consumed at the Dodge City diner was also very small, but the taste was somewhat unappealing. Very milky too…hardly any ice cream.

MAURITIUS
Place: An outside restaurant I visited with Kate and Jess (see post), and a food stand near the beach.
Grades: A-, C
Comments: The first milkshake was great. It was very milky (that’s how all of them have been so far…I’ve found no think milkshakes outside the US), and it was a decent quantity. The flavor was delicious and it worked perfectly with my small meal.
The milkshake on the beach was tasty, but it was so small that it literally took 30 seconds to drink the whole thing. As a whole though, milkshakes outside the US are MUCH smaller than the giant size shakes we drink here.

That’s my recap. Hopefully you haven't taken it too seriously. They don’t serve milkshakes on the ship, but I’ve talked to one of the ladies at the 7th counter, and she said that she’ll make me a shake one of these days when the line isn’t too long. Score!

“So Delicious. So Mauritius”

Don’t expect a completely happy post about Mauritius (if all goes well, tissues will be needed…just kidding, no way I’m THAT melodramatic). Anyways, I’ll try to make it as enjoyable as possible. Let’s start with some basics:

MAURITIUS FAQ

Q: Does Mauritius really exist?
A: Contrary to popular belief, it certainly does. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

Q: Where is Mauritius?
A: Look on a map. It’s near Madagascar. Trust me, it’s there somewhere.

Q: What’s Mauritius like?
A: Well, let’s begin, shall we…

MY MAURITIUS BLOG PROLOGUE

Before I begin writing about this touristy, tiny-dot-on-the-map country, I must first talk about the seas between South Africa and Mauritius. Ok?
For at least 3 or 4 nights I could hardly sleep, because my room’s near the front of the ship, and all night is spent lying in bed as the ship flies up in the air, leaving me with a second or two of weightlessness, then it crashes back down and lunges me back into my bed. I recently read that NASA has experimented with astronaut training by using shipboard tactics like these.

A bunch of us watched the film “Love Actually” in my cabin the other night and throughout the entire film I was bombarded with “how the hell can you actually sleep at night??” You kinda get used to it, though a few nights ago a large crash sent almost everything we had sitting on the desk/nightstand flying to floor.
Not only that, but my roommate and I can also hear waves crashing into the ship, and they seriously sound like loud, mini-explosions.
I’m also beginning to think that the crew has a stash of refrigerators, skillfully placed a few floors directly below us, and when a big wave hits, the fridges violently crash against the room’s metal walls. That’s exactly what it sounds like; no exaggerations here folks. In all fairness though, I should probably also add that there were cyclones in Mauritius a few days before arriving, so those were a pretty big cause for rough seas indeed.

CHATER ONE: FIRST DAY SHENANIGANS

These ridiculous seas caused us to arrive in Mauritius about 5 hours late. We disembarked around 2 o’clock or so and we immediately started exploring the city/market area. The port, the city, and the mountains surrounding us were all oretty beautiful. The culture is incredibly diverse too; they mostly speak either French or English, even though most people we encountered around the city were Indian.

The group was walking around Port Louis, but nobody was making any decisions about what to do, and that gets tiring after awhile, so me, Jess, and Kate decided to sit down at this small outside restaurant, and I feasted on a milkshake and a tasty crepe. After eating and talking we quickly paid a dollar for a water taxi to shuttle us back to the ship, because eight of us had to meet and catch a bus.

We rented a villa to stay at in for most of the trip, and it was an hour bus ride away from Port Louis. I slept most of the way of course. When I awoke, I was surprised to gaze out at a vast array of sugar cane as far as I can see; we were almost there We were also very, very close to the vast mountains. Eventually we were dropped off in this smaller village area.
I should mention that the eight of us didn’t have the house number of this villa we were residing in; we only had the street name and such, so when we left the bus and my cell phone and a pay phone didn’t work we became slightly nervous. One random woman was kind enough to call the villa owner on her cell phone, and literally within minutes this man in a red pickup truck picked us up and took us to the house.

Ok, now you can get the tissues out, because I forgot to mention something very important. Remember that depression I was talking about in my Africa post (if not, then you should scroll down, because you probably missed out on an amazing post)? Well this depression came back the day before Mauritius, and it came back strong! I was diagnosed with this years ago. It’s sporadic, but it honestly doesn’t hit me too often anymore (it’s been way over a year since I’ve felt this bad).
The sad part is that there’s seriously nothing I can do about it besides let it take it’s course. This sickness didn’t completely ruin my time in the country, but it definitely made it somewhat unbearable. What’s even worse is that you really can’t complain out loud to others, because you don’t want to ruin everyone else’s time, so you just have to seclude yourself and deal with it…and when you’re on a once-in-a-lifetime trip like this one, secluding oneself is very difficult. You really don’t want to…you want to experience as much as possible.

Ok, I know, “Ricky, quit bitching and talk about the villa.” Well, it was incredibly spacious. 2 floors. Very open living room, fairly large kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, balcony. It was also up on a hill (below the mountain), and this enabled us to have a beautiful view of the ocean. This spacious environment was necessary, because 13 of us occupied the house the first night.

After making ourselves at home, half the group left for the small grocery store to find some supplies for the first night’s dinner. While gone, four of us encountered an unexpected visitor. This bug…wait…this Creature…no, completely off…this MONSTER flew around our living room with it’s giant wings and planted itself near the top of the curtains. Have you ever read “The Metamorphosis?” After this experience, I can clearly say that I totally sympathize with the way Gregor’s family treats the giant, human-like bug.
I strategically sprayed it with the deet/mosquito repellent I bought, but this monstrosity probably chugs bug spray for breakfast. Instead of dying, it made this horrible, unthinkable growl that caused me to jump back and hide on the other side of the room. Out of the four of us, we all agreed that Emily, the only girl present, had the greatest qualifications for conquering this giant insect; us guys stood back and watched her back for any surprise attacks. Emily, armed with stronger bug spray found in the bottom of the sink, did a great job at slowing the creature down (it was hiding in the curtain), but in the end it was a group effort. Obviously my important role in the group was documenting the monster hunt with my video camera (in case I ever want to make a Japanese horror film), so now our kill may be viewed and applauded forever. Luckily there were no human casualties.

Anyways, thirteen of us eventually inhabited the villa (the rest eventually made it by taxi), and our main cuisine for the night was Eric’s killer grilled cheese sandwiches. We hung out on the balcony, talked, shared secrets till very late. Next door there were a bunch of “7th deckers” (the term 7th deckers applies to students on the ship who care more about partying, alcohol, and tanning on the 7th deck than they do about life) renting the other villa. They played loud music, bought a ton of drinks, and stayed up pretty late. Some of them were actually really friendly, and invited us to join them, and that was really nice. At the same time, other 7th deckers would randomly walk into our house and wonder the premises while completely intoxicated.

Sleeping Arrangements. Rather than sharing a bed I ended up getting stuck with the leather couch in the living room, and granted it was somewhat comfy, there was no air conditioning in the living room. We wanted to keep the windows closed so tons of bugs don’t invade our territory, so it was uncomfortably hot all night. My sweat was sticking to the black, hot leather all night as I TRIED to sleep…eww.

SECOND DAY

I ended up with 2 or 3 hours of sleep, but I still woke up early and decided to take a stroll down to the nearest beach by myself. Very relaxing. I can easily listen to the sounds of waves all day.

By the time I returned, Dorothy, Mark, Natalie, Steph, and Matt made breakfast, and we had a quick bite to eat before traveling to the Flic and Flac beach (a 20 minute drive from the house).
The beach was pretty gorgeous. There weren’t tons of people there, and the bright, blue water was refreshingly pleasant. Because I felt like complete crap all day, I tried to keep to myself most of the day. I seriously felt horrible (keep in mind, I want no sympathy from you readers out there or anything. I’m just telling it like it happened).
We stopped for lunch. Afterwards I tried to get rid of this awesome farmer’s tan I have, but it seems like there’s not enough hours in the day to do EVERYTHING.

Four of us left to buy some groceries for the final night in Mauritius, and we bought A LOT. We were expecting around 15 or so people at the house, and figured that we’d go all out since it was our last night in the country. After buying all the food and arriving back at home, the villa owners received a call from the ship, saying that the rest of the group wasn’t going to be able to make it tonight, since many had day trips early the next day, and many others were tired from the planned trips earlier in the day.
Our friend Sara was the only one who made it, so the seven of us hung out until everyone became tired. Luckily I was able to secure an incredibly comfortable bed all to myself while the other four girls shared a room with a few mattresses, and Mark and Matt had their own room. Goodnight everyone.

THE LAST DAY

My bed was soo comfortable that I slept a little longer than I wanted to…actually I was hoping to travel back to the ship with Steph early in the morning because she had a trip, and I wanted to find some other stuff to do in Mauritius that would hopefully make me feel better, but alas I overslept and ended up leaving around 10 AM or so on my own.

I still felt like complete crap as I caught the bus at 10 in the morning. The bus was old (it sounded like it was about to fall apart), overwhelmingly crowded, and the dirt roads we were driving through almost made it feel like we were off-roading in a bus. At least it only costs maybe around 50 cents in US currency to ride the bus to and from anywhere.


Now this bus was SUPPOSED to take me to Port Louis. It ended it’s run at some random bus station in some random town on some other random part of the island. Seriously, where was I? I later talked to Steph, and she said that her morning bus took her to the exact same place.
I asked around the area how far away it was to Port Louis and the Waterfront, and was instructed to just take a taxi straight there. Easy enough. I found a driver to transport me straight to the city, but (and there’s ALWAYS a “but”) I ended up getting in an argument with him, because the guy kept insisting, in broken English, that he make a pit stop at his friend’s store so that I can shop around and buy stuff. I eventually just insisted I only have enough of money to pay for the cab drive (which was a lie), so he then left me alone. How frustrating.

After the long bus ride and the annoying cab driver, I finally made it back to the ship (which felt very good to see). I ate a quick lunch, then ventured out to find an internet café. I ended up running into Kate and Noopur, and the three of us shopped around the market for awhile.

Now this part of the story gets slightly embarrassing, but I have a good excuse for my actions. It WAS Saint Patricks Day, and what’s the greatest St. Patrick’s Day tradition? That’s right, Shamrock shakes at McDonalds. Sadly the Irish population in Mauritius is zero, so this holiday is not celebrated in any shape or form. Because we were already in the restaurant though, my stomach felt obligated to digest some greasy food, so I ordered a Royal with Cheese meal. It tasted exactly like American McDonalds –disgusting, unhealthy, but still ends up pretty tasty.

THE MAURITIUS BOOK STORE

I totally forgot to mention the ingenious idea I got in South Africa while wondering around the mall. I decided that I’ll buy an American book in each country we visit, except it must be written in the country’s native language. Now some may think that it’s stupid idea, because honestly I’ll probably never be able to read any of the books. On the other hand, I hate buying souvenirs like t-shirts with the country’s name spelled out in big letters, or hats, or cheesy stuff like that. It’s probably the English major in me talking, but I figure that when someone looks at my soon-to-be made bookshelf and notices a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets written entirely in Afrikaans (the original native language of South Africa), they’ll probably ask why I own that. I’ll answer them by talking about my first trip to South Africa, and that’ll spark some conversation.

Anyways, I stopped at a bookstore in the small, westernized mall across the harbor from the ship. I was hoping to find a Batman comic or graphic novel, but they had none, so I bought a copy of Jurassic Park written in French instead, and only spent around 3 or 4 US dollars for it.

THE FINAL NIGHT

Everything closes in Mauritius around 5 o’clock. That’s ok though, because at 5:30 my friend Kyle and I had plans to meet with a few others to go out and celebrate the last night.

My friend Noopur’s parents were visiting from Connecticut to celebrate their anniversary. They invited me, Eric, Kyle, Kate, and Emily out to this wonderful Chinese restaurant on the top floor of this beautiful building and we filled ourselves up with some delicious food with a few of their Mauritian friends. Her parents covered the bill, and were super, super nice, AND invited us all to Connecticut when we get back for some traditional Indian food at their home.
After dinner it was time to make our way back to the ship, for we didn’t want to receive dock time.

I should explain the concept of dock time. Basically everyone on the ship must be back onboard 2 hours before we depart a country. Every minute that someone’s late, that person loses an hour of time in port for the next country. We easily made it back in time, but many others weren’t as fortunate as us. We still made fun of all the people that were late. Mwahaha!

We finished the night by talking and hanging out in Kyle and Eric’s room, rather than standing outside and watching the port fade away into the dark distance. Funny times were had, as always.

I didn’t hate Mauritius or anything. Unfortunately I just internally felt so bad that I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I should have. Not only that, but other people I know got to visit other parts of the island and see some pretty crazy things, so I kind of wish that I would have just adventured instead of trying to relax. Still, the island was mostly beaches and touristy kind of stuff...nothing that grand. I’m happy that I’m around really great people though. Hopefully I’ll look back on this post in a few days and laugh at how horrible I felt through the whole country.

I’ll post another update in a few days or so. Let’s hope, pray, and imagine that I’ll be in a more positive mindset.

Thanks for reading all of my rambling.
Rick

Say Yes! To Africa!

(the picture I took of Table Mountain with the run rising in the background...cue Lion King music)

Ohhh Africa. I know, I know, I really apologize for the lack of African updates. I wanted to wait until we arrived in Mauritius so that I may post some photos and it wouldn’t cost me 40 or 50 cents per minute to do so like on the ship. I'm in an internet cafe in Mauritius right now actually. Anyways…

Our journey began early on March 2nd as we glimpsed at the beautiful mountains of Capetown off in the distance very, very early in the morning. Gusts of sudden wind and patches of cold weather took over the 7th deck of the Explorer as we crept closer and closer to the city’s shore. Unfortunately I had felt very depressed the past few days, so I just decided to go back to bed. I don’t know why I felt so bad, and no, I wasn’t homesick or anything. I’ve been going in and out of this depression throughout my time on the ship. I'll probably talk alittle more about this in my Mauritius post, but no worries, for I’m still having an immensely good time sailing around the world!

Fortunately we had a whole week in Capetown, South Africa, and this definitely brought up my spirits very quickly. The first day in the beautiful city of Capetown started by finding an outside restaurant near the shopping district of the dock near our ship and eating ostrich burgers (see pic). We then made our way to the city by foot.


(Mark, Matt, myself, Jess eating the great ostrich).

While we were shopping around the small market, there were tons and tons of crafts, jewelry, and clothing that I was tempted to purchase, but the only thing I went away with was a small djembe (an African drum) that’s actually crafted really well. In case you don’t know, I’m a percussionist, and have been searching for some decent percussion instruments since we left Bahamas, but everything I saw in the other countries were pretty crappy and not worth the money. I was able to get the cost down to around 150 rand, which equals about 21 US dollars (yes, the rand-dollar conversion was a pain for many of us).

While walking around the market, a startling thought entered my head. The current statistic of AIDs victims in Africa is 1 in 9 people. That means that at least every person I passed or made contact with has been affected by this horrible epidemic in some way, and that’s a pretty depressing thought.


Later on in the market we saw my roommate get robbed. I felt bad, because a few of us were across the street in a café and didn’t realize what was happening until it was over, but at least nobody got hurt. After the 25-minute walk back to the ship, everyone else went to take a nap, but I walked out to the beach and roamed the area by myself. I caught glimpses of some dolphins and tons of sea lions, which was pretty exciting and calming.

That night a large group of us left for a jazz club in the mall near the ship. The band was pretty tight and we all had tons of fun. I fully enjoyed my strawberry daiquiri, as well as some other more colorful shooters as a Banana in Pajamas and the Toilet in Soweto. Some of the faculty were also there, and they definitely got more wasted than any other student in sight. It was enjoyable.




The second day was SUPPOSED to be spent hiking up Table Mountain, which surrounds the back of Capetown, but it was raining and windy, so a small group of us set off for the tourist information center in order to find something else to do. One of our friends instinctively signed up for a tour of the townships surrounding the city, and we all delightfully agreed to join him.
A few of us reserved our spots on the tour, then left for a quick bite to eat at a pizza shop near the ship. Just for trivia purposes, this was the first time I ate pizza in over a month; I seriously think that’s a record for me.

That afternoon, Jess, Matt, Matt, Jen and I all took a tour of the surrounding townships of Capetown. We saw some intense poverty around these areas. Literally, many of these people were just living in shacks with thin walls that barely stood up straight.


(a vast township landscape)


One of the highlights was when our tour guide led us to this dark, small shack. We nervously walked inside, and he lined us up against the wall with about 6 other people staring us down. He then explained that this was the district’s local “pub”. This woman then made this bucket of homemade beer and we each passed the bucket down the row and had a drink straight out of it. It was an interesting experience (I think I got a good bit of it on video at least). We also saw the District Six museum and visited some peoples’ homes/shacks where we were able to briefly talk to them about their living conditions and their lives.


Honestly, I was really tired by the time this rainy afternoon excursion ended, but my personal highlight was visiting this small local pub. It was crammed, uncomfortable, and loud as at least fifty or so people were crammed into this small space, so no, I definitely didn’t drink anything, but I was able to talk to these few guys from the township who actually went to school in the US. We talked about the racism they encountered while living here in the south, and also talked about this little problem us Americans have named George Bush, and I asked some questions about the townships of South Africa. Really nice guys.



There was an art/music festival happening in downtown Capetown that night on Long Street. Unfortunately it was raining, but that didn’t stop a huge group of us from attending. Many of them decided to visit this Jamaican club, but a few of us decided to skip the cover charge and find someplace else to hang out. We saw some crazy performance art on some outside stages that I enjoyed, but we ultimately decided to hang out at this Irish pub in hopes of catching some awe-inspiring Celtic music. Instead, the musician’s set consisted of songs by generic American acts like REM and Hootie and the Blowfish (just to name a few), so we left as soon as we could after realizing that no Irish music would be played.


The night ended well though. We were talking about how tasty waffles sounded at the moment, and SURPRISE, we found this really cheap diner that served waffles with ice cream for only 13 rand (that’s less than 2 US dollars). Delicious AND cheap. A few of us also viewed the crazy lunar eclipse from the seventh deck of the ship. Good times.

We woke up early on the third day to attend a wine tasting and winery tour. Apparently South Africa is well-known for their wines and abundance of wineries. I’ve modestly enjoyed wine for a while, but now I’m definitely obsessed. The tour lasted from 9:30 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. We hit up four wineries and had twenty one glasses of wine by the end of the day. No, I wasn’t drunk or anything, but was definitely tired and in a very good mood by the end of the day.
Actually this was probably my favorite day in Africa. We met some cool people, learned A LOT about the art of wine tasting and wine making, and were also able to see the countryside of South Africa. It was only four of us, plus these two nice Swedish girls, and our tour guide, Deon, who was pretty damn knowledgeable. At the first winery this woman who sounded and looked like an older Mary Poppins taught us proper wine-tasting etiquette. After that, Mary Poppins also gave us a tour of the facilities and the rooms where they make the wines. Very informing. The other wineries were equally as fun (I'll post a group pic on my next post).

(me at the last winery of the day)


Later that night I spent about four hours at the jazz club with a few others as we watched a band tear through four unbelievable sets of pure jazz madness. I love watching excellent musicians play. It makes me feel like crap because I suck so much, but it’s also incredibly inspiring. I arrived back at the ship around 1 a.m., and started packing, because in less than three hours it was time to quickly leave for the airport and catch a flight to my safari!


I spent the last week or two trying to plan this 3-day Camping safari in Kruger Park, and somehow it all came together well. I went with Matt and these two other girls we met about a week earlier, Kelsey and Grace. Anyways, after a quick nap we left at 4 a.m. for the airport. The airline company we were traveling on was 1Time Airlines...seriously the worst name for ANY company. They did, surprisingly, get us there safely though! After the two-hour flight to Johannesburg, we had a six-hour van drive to the actual safari, so I was totally caught up on sleep by the time we made it to the park.

While traveling in the van from Johannesburg to the park, I paid close attention to the landscapes that we were passing. It was quite odd. At one point it looked like the setting for a live-action Lion King movie, but 20 minutes later look like we were traveling through Florida or someplace with lemons growing everywhere. 20 minutes later it looked like farmland from Imperial, PA, but then switch back to the African landscapes.


Kruger Park is HUGE. The weather was nice. We saw tons of rhinos, elephants, warthogs, baboons, zebras, buffalo, turtles, some giraffes, hippos, kudu, and a cheetah.



(rhinos, elephants, warthogs (Pumbas))


I was hoping for at least one or two traumatic occurrences in order to have some crazy stories though…getting attacked by an elephant or even smacked in the face by a monkey would have been sufficient, but alas nothing too crazy. We slept in 2-person tents, ate some homecooked food, and interacted with people from all over the world.

Our tour guides were naturally from Africa, but the few people we camped with were from everywhere. Argentina, Ireland, France, Belgium, and United States were all represented in our safari.
On the last day, as we were waiting for our van to pick us up and transport us to the airport, I was playing UNO with four other people, and halfway through realized that I was the only one from America. I don’t know, I thought that was pretty neat. By the time our game drives were completed I was really in the mood to watch Jurassic Park.

Hmm..what else? Our tour guides sang us a catchy African song about rice after dinner both nights, that's worth mentioning, right? All in all it was a fun time.


Our ride back to the airport was crowded and uncomfortable, but fortunately I had the wonderful lounge/pop sounds of Stereolab jamming on my iPod to keep me entertained for 6 hours. Oh, and we BARELY made our 6:30 flight back to Capetown. Running frantically through the airport has been a pretty common occurrence on this trip so far for me. Luckily we made it back to Capetown around 9:30 or so, and I met up with a few others at an African restaurant, where some traditional African marimba players and drummers were jamming the night away. Yes!


The final day in Capetown started early when we visited Robben Island. The island’s about a twenty five minute ferry ride from Capetown, and it’s mostly known as the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for many years. It was pretty nice, but I would have been fine if I skipped it. I was actually REALLY hoping to see many of the penguins that inhabited the outskirts of the island, but alas our penguin sightings were quite slim. I DEFINITELY have to see some penguins next time I visit South Africa though. You can never have too many penguins.


(James and I locked up in Robben Island)

We then FINALLY got to hike up Table Mountain. It didn’t take long for the five of us to make our way up the steep rocks and eventually make it to the top.


This was taken BEFORE we starting the great trek. (Mark, Jess, me, Matt, James)


Suggestions for anyone hoping to climb Table Mountain in the near future:
1. Take lots of pictures (we definitely did…mini photo sessions are a must).
2. Bring LOTS of water (we definitely didn’t)
3. Hope that the sun isn’t TOO hot outside (it definitely was)


(Jess took this during one of our many rests)

(view from the top)

It was a great hiking group and we made it to the top in less than two hours (it took other SASers around four hours or so to hike up), and Jess was incredibly lucky because she got to repel down from the top…for free…in order to be on this demo video these guys were shooting. The rest of us traveled down using the cable car, and then stopped at Long Street for one more shopping experience in Capetown. Having been inspired by this African group I saw at the Warhol museum a year or so ago, I bought a thumb piano at one of the market shops. We then made our way back to the mall near the ship where I had two, yes two milkshakes (I had a craving the entire time we were in Africa) and shopped for a few music cds and/or gifts for others.

The ship had to refuel, so we spent the final night in Africa aboard the ship unfortunately (they wouldn’t let us walk off), and we left the next day in the middle of the afternoon.

I know I’ll definitely be back to this country in the near future (anyone up for some 2010 World Cup action?); it was seriously one unbelievable experience. I wish I could have done more and/or met more people, but we only had a week.

I'll try to post some more Africa pictures when I write my post on Mauritius. I promise it'll be up within the next day or so.