The Countdown Begins Again

Here's the low down on Ghana. I like Ghana, but I'm not sure I'll be back anytime soon. It wasn't my favorite port. I spent a lot of time exploring the areas around the ship, and finishing up my bartering interactions for my psych project. I also visited the Slave Dungeons in Elmina and Cape Coast, which is where they stored slaves for weeks before shipping them west. It was such a humbling experience. And finally, I got to explore Accra with my social psych class for our field lab. We spent the first part of the day at Osu Children's Home, playing with kids and doing yard work. And then after a short break for lunch at Afrikiko Tam Tam, we hit Oxford Street for a scavenger hunt for the market. It was one of the better class field labs I got to participate in, because we were able to learn a lot about social psychology in Ghana while still having fun.

Looking back on the voyage, it makes me really sad knowing that I'll be home in two weeks. I can't believe time has flown by so fast. By the time I get off, I'll have been in eight new countries. Today is the last study day of the voyage (which hopefully means good food – tacos?).

We've spent the last four days writing, studying, and working like crazy. It's essentially the equivalent of finals week here. I've turned in most of my work so I really only have one exam and a few group projects left to finish up after our last port, Morocco. So right now, I'm planning on finishing up most of my work before Morocco so I can just enjoy the last few days on the ship. We have a big alumni ball, including a nice dinner, and my friends and I are all trying to make the most of the last few days. We're counting down until we get off the boat in both anxiety to travel more and/or go home and because we don't want to ever leave. It's hard to think that I'm not coming back and that my friends and I will never be together like this again. But it's also nice to know I'm going home – back to normal – in Indiana. I'm excited for the summer and even next semester. Plus I have a lot of classes to catch up on at BU. But I'm not going to worry about that now. I'm just going to take it all in. The ship life is great. Where else can you walk up a flight of stairs and have someone make you oatmeal? Nowhere. I've definitely been spoiled this semester, and I know I'll miss it.

UPDATE: There were no tacos, but we did have a cookies and cream ice cream bar, so that was pretty exciting.

Also, here's a picture of one of my favorite families on the ship – the Mayes. I tutor Tim (the kid in red) every day and I've gotten to know the entire family really well.

This time for Africa

I know that I leave every single country saying that it was my favorite so far, but South Africa is definitely going to be hard to top. The six days I spent here were easily some of the best I've had on the voyage thus far. I spent three days exploring Cape Town and three days on a safari in Kruger National Park. Kruger is one of the best safaris in Africa – and about as far away from a zoo that you can get. I got an awesome picture of a baby elephant with it's momma.

Many people on the ship joked that we were finally back to civilization because Cape Town looks a lot like a city in the States or in Europe would. Plus, everyone speaks English. And it's true in that sense. But there's so much more to Cape Town that I probably didn't get to experience because my friends and I were so excited for some of the comforts of home. Our ship was docked in walking distance from the V & A Waterfront, which was a giant boardwalk with a huge mall and lots of restaurants. We'd walk over to grab lunch and wifi or shop and have dinner. It was so easy. A lot of my time in South Africa was spent at some of the more touristy areas of Cape Town- the Waterfront, Table Mountain, and a horseback riding tour through the winelands. I also knocked out a few interactions in Green Market Square for my social psych project.

The adventure I'll probably always remember is climbing up Table Mountain. It's this huge plateau in Cape Town and you're really not supposed to hike it without a guide because it's super steep and a tad bit dangerous. But being overconfident college students who are very worldly travelers, we decided to go for it. In hindsight, it was definitely an okay climb to not have a guide if you're careful and in shape. But it was difficult to get up the mountain. Once we were up there, it was so worth the struggle. Plus – we didn't have to hike back down because there were cable cars. During my climb, I kept looking down because the view of the city on the water was spectacular – you could see the entirety of Cape Town and even the MV World Odyssey! Here's Table Mountain from just outside of Cape Town.

All in all, I wish I had about two more weeks in South Africa. There was so much I didn't get to see and experience. And there was a lot of local culture that I didn't have time for. I don't regret a minute of my experience there, and I know I'll be returning sometime soon. 

A Typical Day at Sea

My friend Chaz and I

I love my days at sea. There’s been a lot of them, so I have a pretty good routine down. Class days are assigned as either A days or B days – I have two classes each day, so both days are pretty similar. Occasionally we’ll have study days (like yesterday) which is kind of a like a weekend – a day to catch up on homework and not have classes. That’s also when lifeboat drills, taco days, and any events like Sea Olympics or Neptune day happen. But most of the time, if we’re at sea, it’s a class day. Today is an A day, meaning I have class from 9:30 – 10:50 and 2:40-4. Here’s what most of my days look like:

Eleanor and I

I usually wake up sometime between six and seven. Breakfast starts at seven, and I like being there right when it opens because it’s a lot quieter. And all the good food goes fast, like the frosties and blueberry muffins. Usually Eleanor will roll out of bed to go with me, and then get back in bed after we eat. If my friends at Butler were here, they’d think I’m crazy. Getting up before 8, let alone getting to breakfast, is a struggle for me. But I’ve changed. I have a new found appreciation for breakfast.

At eight, I tutor Tim for about half an hour, who is a ninth grader learning Algebra II. His dad is a professor on the ship and I’ve been able to get to know their family pretty well. I think they’re thankful that I’m able to help with the math. I’m thankful that the math isn’t too hard for me to teach him.

After tutoring, I usually do some homework until class at 9:30. After class, I catch up on some more homework while hanging with my friends in Berlin, our favorite dining room. Lunch starts at 11:30, and we’re usually the first in line to get food. Depending on the day, my friends will either head to the pool or the back deck to do homework after lunch Sometimes I go back to my room to do laundry, finish up homework, or nap. Very exciting, I know. But if I get more work done earlier in the afternoon, then I don’t have to worry about anything later that night. Pool days are fun, but most of my friends have more free time on B days, since we have a bigger break between classes.

Madi's Birthday Dinner

My next class is at 2:40. I’m not a huge fan of class that late, but it could be worse. Plus, class is over at 4, so that means I have another little break to either go swimming, or hang out with my friends before dinner. Dinner is at 5:30. Same place, same time, every day.

Almost every evening has something different going on. We have meetings the two days before port which are mandatory. Our cultural pre-port for South Africa is tonight. Before that, I’ll probably head to watch swing dancing for a little. Then after pre-port, my friend Brit and I are going to Christian Fellowship. Occasionally there are nights without anything going on – that’s when my friends and I watch movies or find some other fun shenanigans to do, like ship-wide hide and seek.

So that’s my normal day! Some days have more work than others. The days before a port are usually most fun, because we have so little work to do and everyone’s excited to get off the ship. I’ll be in South Africa soon!! 

I fell in love with India

I love India. Love the food. Love the people. Love the culture. I'd come back. This is my favorite port of the voyage so far. Right now, I'm writing this post on a bus to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is!). The last three days, I've been on a program through SAS called Princes and Palaces, and visited Jaipur and Bharatpur. It's been amazing. Tonight, we'll spend the night in a hotel overlooking the Taj and then drive to Delhi tomorrow. It's a lot of travel every day, but it's also been nice to have a couple hours of downtime; we see a lot when we're not on the bus and sometimes the amount of sightseeing can be a little overwhelming.

The first day I had in India was spent exploring Fort Kochi with friends. The ship docked early in the morning, but by the time we went through immigration and got ready to leave, it was lunchtime so we ate on the ship and then headed out. It was Brit, Jane, Eleanor and I exploring together and I was the mastermind behind the plans.

I briefly did some research about Cochin, because I had some classwork to work on "in the field," which is really just code for homework when while I'm not on the ship. My History of Modern China class is analyzing how the Chinese culture has spread throughout the world, so we are looking for Chinatowns in all of the port cities we dock in. There wasn't necessarily a Chinatown in Cochin, but they do have these giant Chinese fishing nets that are pretty famous, so my class was strongly encouraged to check those out. My Social Pysch class requires us to get data of bartering in three different ports. I did my first collection in Hong Kong, and was planning on getting more in markets here. It's really not my favorite task, because I have to have someone videotape every interaction I have, and it's hard to walk away from the vender without buying anything, so I usually just purchase the item. After spending more money than I had wanted in Hong Kong on a bunch of stuff I didn't necessarily need, my friends and I figured out that I would just barter for whatever they want and kinda came up with a good system. So I also planned on visiting the markets in Fort Kochi.

As we got off the ship, we asked where the ferry was to take us over there and started heading in that direction. We soon found ourselves surrounded by tuktuk drivers offering to take us around the entire day for only 400, 200, or even 100 rupees (about $1.50).  Tuktuks are best explained as a mix between rickshaw type things on a motorcycle and a rustic golf cart. The drivers were persistent, walking with us or driving alongside us, despite our rejections. Eventually, we made it to the ferry to find out it wasn't going to leave for another hour. There were two tuktuk drivers offering us the same amount to take us around all day – 100 rupees for all four of us. No one in the group wanted to make a decision, and honestly, we had no reason to choose one over the other. It was only when we attracted a crowd of ten drivers surrounding us as we discussed our options did we pick a tuktuk.

Our driver's name was Sham, which means the sun. The sun's hot, but don't worry, because he's cool. He said it. Not me. I promise. I was somewhat hesitant with our choice, but I know we picked the right driver. He was 22, and had been driving tuktuks for 5 years. He talked to us about SAS, slowed down so we could take pictures, and even affectionately referred to Eleanor as Singapore by the end of the day, because she was the only non-American in our group. At this point, I was still convinced he was just taking us to the markets in Fort Kochi so we could wander around on our own, so I was super confused when he pulls up on the side of the street next to a community laundromat. That's when our group realized we found our very own tour guide for the day. We also visited the Santa Cruz Catholic Basilica, an art gallery, a spice market, and many, many shops full of saris, scarves, and jewelry. However, in these shops, it was really hard to barter for my project because everything was so expensive, and I wasn't into spending that much.

We did make it to the Chinese fishing nets, and got to watch them in action. Fishing with the nets is pretty labor intensive, so it's not as commonly used. It was really cool to get up close and watch the fish being caught – I think they were catfish.

The street behind the Chinese fishing nets was lined with market stalls full of clothing, which meant two things: more shopping and my social psych homework. We found one stall and I was able to barter for the clothes that Brit and Jane wanted to purchase. Only issue was, Brit is very indecisive. As I was bartering, she'd see something else she wanted. It worked out okay, but I only got three interactions, so I'll have to make them up in another port.

After the market, Sham let us drive the tuktuk. That's right. We got to drive. I have a great picture of Brit sitting in the front seat with him. She wasn't super confident like Jane was though. Jane really and truly was driving the tuktuk, but Sham didn't teach her really all that well because she didn't know how to slow down. As we neared a tight pass with a bus on one side and a person on the other, Jane had to choose to inch closer to one instead of the other. Thinking that the person would move if she got close enough, she chose the man. The man didn't move and she did what she called a love tap, which ended up in a stare down between the man and his friends and Sham. It was terrifying, yet I was trying so hard not to laugh. And that's one of the reasons why SAS doesn't let students operate motor vehicles. That was also the end of the driving for the day.

After the love tap incident, we wanted food and wifi, so Sham took us to a restaurant near the fishing nets where we ordered curry and a ton of different kinds of bread. The day was reaching its end, and we had plans that night back on the ship, so we had Sham drive us back over and we said our goodbyes.

That night, we all attended the welcome reception with university students (all male, all MBA students) – Brit, Jane, Chris, and I. Maddie even showed up on her field lab. It was cool and all, but my favorite part was the food. I thought there would only be snacks, but there was a full on buffet line and everything was delicious. It was all vegetarian, and I have no idea what I ate, because they piled it on as I walked down the line. It all mixed together, and I hate when my food touches each other. But it was delicious. And that's where I fell in love with Indian food. 

Also, here's a picture of me at the Taj! 

Myanmar

Myanmar. Wow. It's my first morning back on the ship after five days in Myanmar, and I'm honestly still processing it all. I really don't know how to explain what I saw, or even what to say. Going into this country, I knew so little about the history and culture. We were warned that the government that was heavily focused on military was very oppressive on the population. We weren't to talk about politics, student rights, religion, or anything that could land us, or the person we were talking to in jail. Honestly, I was a little afraid of what I was going to see. It was really hard to see the country and not judge or evaluate it in a way that might not be accurate. I didn't want to be wrong and create negative stereotypes of Myanmar.

For the last four days, I was on a SAS trip to Ngwe Saung, which is essentially a resort town. It was advertised as a 5 hour ride from the ship, but those 5 hours turned into 8 on the way there and 10 on the way back. So I really only had two days to explore. But throughout those bus rides, I was able to see a lot of the country. And our rest stops included a parasol making factory and a bamboo furniture factory. The first full day at the resort, I woke up early to go ride elephants. It was something that I vaguely remember doing when I was little, but definitely really cool now. The next day was spent almost entirely at a local school. We took a pickup to get there, because all of the roads were so curvy and bumpy that our bus wouldn't have been able to handle it. Sitting in the bed of the truck with twelve other college kids is now officially checked off my bucket list. Anyway, the kids there were so cool. They put on a show for us, and we ate lunch with them. The majority of the group left the school around noon, but I stayed until almost 2. At that point, we were able to hang out with them and the experience was a little more personal. We taught them the cupid shuffle and a few games. And despite the language barrier, they taught us some games, too. That night was the eventful night - there was a frog in my room. It was scary. I dealt with it like an adult, and made one of the resort employees get rid of it for me. No way am I touching that thing. Yesterday was spent almost entirely on a bus. It took ten hours to get back to the ship, which was entirely too long, but I got a lot of time to process all that I saw.


Here's a picture of a group of SASers at the school we visited! 

Honestly, I'm still processing it all, and probably will continue to until I get back to the US. That's kind of due to the design of SAS. In four days, I'll be exploring the streets of India, so I have to move on pretty fast to be ready for an entirely new culture. So the rest of this post is a weird combination of all of my thoughts and insights from the country.

In a sense, I was wonderfully surprised with what I saw. It was mentioned to me that this was the land of smiles. And that's definitely true. The Burmese were extremely happy, which surprised me, especially after fifty years of intense military control. Although people were initially apprehensive to the hoard of students walking up and down the dirt roads of the village we were visiting, we soon learned that once we smiled, we were immediately welcome. It was almost as if the smile broke the barrier that's often apparent between locals and travelers. There was a very positive attitude towards Americans and the US. One of the students on my trip said that we was talking to a local man who could only dream of visiting the US, but could never afford it. However, some of the school kids were afraid of talking to us because of the negative stereotype they had of white people from the British colonization. I don't think they had a bad experience, I think it was a warning handed down from older generations. But I could be wrong. Those are just my thoughts.

Myanmar is also a very safe country, which surprised me. Coming from Vietnam, where petty crime was pretty common, I was excited to hear that it rarely happened. Apparently, crime is not common because it's heavily punishable. Pickpockets could spent years in prison. In all of the areas that I visited, I felt extremely safe. Fun fact: It is illegal for women to drink in public.

Along with the instances that I didn't expect, there was a lot that didn't surprise me. It was a place where a lot of the basic comforts of safety (of the US) were neglected. On a SAS sponsored trip, we stuffed twelve students in the back of a pickup to take us to the school we were visiting. That would never happen in the US, but unreliable transportation is pretty common in poorer countries in Asia. Also, there were a lot of food that I couldn't eat, for a couple of reasons. First of all, any drinking water had to be bottled, and we had to be really careful of what we ate. Any salads, ice cream, drinks with ice cubes, and fruit that we didn't peel ourselves were a no go. Second, many of the dishes were way too spicy for me to consume. I'm sure my parents would have loved them, but my mouth was on fire.

I learned that a lot of the resources of the country were only in the hands of the military, which led the government. Very few of the people had any wealth. None of the farmers owned the land, only the government. And the resort that my group stayed in was owned by the son of the head of the military.

Overall, it was an incredible experience. The country is changing a lot, and in some small way, I got to experience it. It was such a paradox of ancient customs in a modern setting. As we were nearing our arrival to Myanmar, the shipboard community discussed the ethics of the country. On a voyage in 2006, a lot of the students boycotted SAS's decision to visit Myanmar, and refused to leave the ship. I think a lot has changed in the last decade, but there were some times that I considered the ethics of my actions – for example, riding the elephants. It turns out, the elephants were very much well cared for and healthy, which made me feel better about my experience. But as I go into the rest of the ports on my voyage, and travel later in life, I'll definitely consider the ethical perspective of traveling in a country.

 

 

 

Fish Galore in Vietnam and the Olympics of the Sea

The food I ate in Vietnam was by far the best food that I've had on the trip so far. However, I ate almost only seafood for three days straight. I went on a field program with SAS to Ha Long Bay that involved waking up at 3 am to fly to Hanoi and then take a three hour bus ride to Ha Long Bay. It was so worth the pretty sights of all the rocks and islands and the friends that I made while I was there. My roommate for the trip, Sydney, and I got along so well and it turns out that we're in the same class and live in the same hallway on the ship! 

This is a picture of me from the top of a cave in Ha Long. We spent the first night on a mini cruise/junk boat. It was really fancy, and my room there was bigger than my room on the ship. It was perfect weather for shorts, but too cold to swim. Also, I'm not sure I would have swam in the water there anyway because it was kinda gross.There was a ton of trash in the water, as well as diesel from the boats. I don't even want to think about all the harm that's doing to the environment. Despite the trash, we still had a ton of fresh fish. 

When I got back on the ship, I had to write a vignette for my travel writing class. The focus of the class is food, and we're learning how to write about food throughout our voyage. We spend a lot of time watching Anthony Bourdain and watching his episodes, because my professor loves him. The only guidelines we got from my professor was to write about food and write in first person, present tense. Here's my vignette about Vietnam:

I remember saying, "I'm never eating another fish again." I was seven, at the dinner table with my parents and my brother, eating yet another fish. And I was done with it. Flash forward thirteen years, I find myself in yet another fish predicament. Sitting on the Golden Cruise in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, I'm staring at the set menu. Fish, shrimp, squid, prawns, octopus, clams, crab. Even mystery seafood spring rolls. If it lives in the ocean, I was probably getting served it. There is no chicken or pork to be found on the menu. No comforts of landlocked Indiana. The dread builds up as the tables fill around me and the countdown to lunch continues. There are two ways to deal with this situation: to eat or not to eat.

Honestly, I'm a nonconventional picky eater. I will (probably unfairly) decide not to eat things just by the name or description. However, if something looks good, despite my opinion on whether or not I've liked it in the past, I will eat it. For example, almost any fried food; more specifically, fried mushrooms from Cruiser's Grill in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. I'm not a mushroom fan. I can say I've probably unknowingly had them before, because I'm sure my mom's snuck them into chicken casseroles or between the layers of meat and pasta in lasagnas. But my first positive experience with mushrooms happened when they were battered and fried, and of course, covered in ranch dressing. So as I consider this, I decide to be open-minded. This seafood is steps away from the frozen fish sticks I've eaten in my childhood.

We're spending the night on the boat, so it's got to be fresh, right? I'd just take it one dish at a time.

The first plate is set down before us. Shrimp. With eyes. Pass. The next is a stuffed crab. The sharp-edged shell on the bottom of the crab freaks me out a little, but I'll try it. The table filled with other Semester at Sea students seems to be entertained by my reservations to try the food. I lift the fork with a tiny bit of crab to my mouth. Not bad. Although I'm squeamish at the thought of eating a crab, the taste isn't awful. I get up to go to the bathroom and return to a giant bowl of clams. I'm not sure how to eat them, and figuring that out seemed like a lot of effort. The lunch progressively gets better as more and more plates are placed in front of me, the highlights being mystery seafood spring rolls, fried rice, and finally pineapple.

Overall, the seafood isn't that bad. I realize that maybe I should be a little less judge-y and a little more open-minded about what I eat. Not every country I visit throughout my semester at sea will have chicken tenders and ranch, but every country will have food that is just as good. Moral of the story: when in Vietnam, eat the fish.

I haven't gotten a grade back from my professor, but I'm not that worried. We peer edited our first drafts, and Clarissa told me it was funny. So if it's not, blame her. 

After almost 24 hours spent in Ha Long Bay, we took the three hour bus ride in Hanoi to spend some time there. By the time we had gotten off the mini-cruise and eaten lunch, it was past noon, so we didn't get to Hanoi until after 4. We were there just in time for a underwater puppet show. That was an experience, but mostly because of all of the other tourists that surrounded us. One thing I've learned on the trip, that I kinda already knew going in, was that not many Americans travel around Asia, particularly a large group of college students. I lost count of how many pictures were taken with us or of us. 

My last day in Vietnam was spent in Hanoi and on a plane back to Ho Chi Minh. We visited the Confucian temple of literature, where we got to explore. It was a really exciting to be in Vietnam because it was Tet, or the lunar new year. Growing up in Hong Kong, we had celebrated Chinese New Year, and it's very similar in a lot of aspects to Tet. But it was interesting to experience it in another country. So all of the temples and pagodas were bustling, and all of the stores and markets were closed. It wasn't so good for shopping, but I enjoyed witnessing the celebrations. 

Now, I'm back on the boat. We passed Singapore yesterday, and could see it from the boat. We also had a study day, which means no classes. I promise you that very little studying happened. It was Sea Olympics. Basically, every hallway on the ship is assigned a sea. Mine is Arabian, so we all wore orange and nominated our mascot to be a tiger. Throughout the day, the entire shipboard community competed in events such as lip sync, tug of war, synchronized swimming, speed chess, relay race, rap battle etc. We were awarded points as a sea the entire day, and my sea came in third (out of seven!). Honestly, I didn't expect us to do as well as we did, because our preparation was a little shabby. We did lose to all of the children and old people on the ship, which is a little embarrassing, but our lip sync at the end of the night killed. It got a standing ovation from the crowd, and I was definitely proud to be an Arabian Tiger. Most of my friends are in the Yellow Sea, and they lost. So sucks for them. But it was all friendly competition, and we got to spend a day with no worries. I wish more days were like that on the ship, because we get stuck in such a routine that sometimes we forget to take a break and have fun while we're at sea. This voyage is flying by, and I can't believe that exactly two months from now, I'll be getting off the ship in Southampton. 

In two more days, I'll be in Myanmar. I'm signed up for another field program with SAS, but I have a lot of friends going on it and we get to see elephants, so I'm excited. Hopefully it'll be a good experience. I know virtually nothing about Myanmar, so I'm excited to be there and experience a new culture. 

Feel free to email me if you're bored! lauren.wiley.sp16@semesteratsea.org

 

Driving in Vietnam

So this next entry is one that I submitted as a blog post for my Intercultural Communications class. After every port, we write about something that made us stop and think. It's a way of incorporating what we do in port with what we learn in our classes. 

Never will I ever operate a motor vehicle in Vietnam. Although I'm relatively confident with my driving through the suburbs of Indianapolis, I can only imagine the anxiety of weaving around all the motorcycles and the possibility of getting run over by tour buses with their very aggressive honks and intimidating size. Nobody stays in one lane. In fact, driving in two lanes at once seems like the cool thing to do. Bonus points if you weave back and forth between the two on the wrong side of the road. 
Obviously, driving here is very different from what I'm used to in the US. I'm afraid of what I'm going to see in the countries later on my voyage. Can you say culture shock? On a more serious note, I noticed that they have a lot of the same issues that we have, including drunk driving. However, there are some differences as well. Many more people ride on scooters or motorcycles. I've lost count of how many families of four I've seen loaded on one cycle. I even saw a family of five, and felt pretty proud of that accomplishment. On the flip side, almost everyone has a helmet, which is not the case in the US. 
There's also a lot of honking. Not in the aggressive pissed off at dumb people driving (or not driving) honking in the states. This honking is more consistent. It's a reminder that your vehicle is behind another, slower vehicle. And that they should probably get out of the way. Cue the image of my anxiety attack while driving a motorcycle. It reminds me of learning to drive on the highway. But worse. I'd probably just stop and let them drive around me. 
In my Intercultural Communications class, we look for critical incidents where something we notice makes us stop and think. Here, that's the honking for me. It's just so hard not to notice it and for me, it's almost omnipresent. Over the four days spent in Vietnam, I was on multiple buses, taking many taxi rides, and even just walking around the city. After observing it, I've noticed that it's a necessary part of daily life. The two taps on the horn of a bus coming up behind you is like a polite excuse me as you walk by someone in the grocery store. 
This is sort of a cultural difference that is highlighted in Martin and Nakayama's Intercultural Communications text, where they introduce the notion of high-context communication. That is, "a style of communication in which much of the information is contained in the contexts and nonverbal cues rather than expressed explicitly in words" (p. 233). I believe the honking is a form of nonverbal communication, and without the context of the culture, it can mean different things to different people. The only time I use my horn in the US is generally if I get cut off on the highway. But here, I think I would have to get used to using it much more.