In China, my sister left a message on my facebook wall asking me if I was alright because she heard about the student in Hong Kong. I thought she was referring to a non-SAS person. However, in my hotel room in Beijing, I went to the SAS website and discovered that Kurt Leswing was killed by a drunk driver at night. I was extremely shocked to hear this. I’ve heard of incidents of past participants dying. However, because incidents like these are rare, I never would have imagined we would arrive in Miami one student less.
I did not personally know Kurt Leswing, but I remembered his face on the ship, and I am sure he had the time of his life with Semester at Sea; he had accomplished much more in his lifetime than most students would have. To be honest, though, even though the ship community was greatly impacted by his death, most of the students who did not know him were not as saddened as they “should” be. It seemed that a couple of days after his death, ship life returned to normal.
I went to an informational regarding Kurt’s death and we discovered that there was some altercation regarding Kurt and a taxi driver, and after that, Kurt tried to wave down a taxi on the road. A car swerved to avoid him, but another car right behind the first car struck him. From what we were told, Kurt and the driver were both intoxicated; the level of which they were intoxicated was unknown. From the information stated to us, it was implied that he was by himself. Many of us wondered if the people he was with left him, or he went of by his own.
Besides these facts, thinking about “what ifs” is not going to change things, only make it worse. I feel the best way to deal with this experience is to realize the fact that we are vulnerable human beings and can die at any second; thus, we must not take our lives for granted, but, instead, take great care of it. A loss of life impacts everyone, especially loved ones. I would not want my parents and friends crying and hurting over my death; the thought of it pains my heart. I can't even imagine what Kurt's parents, twin brother, and friends went through when they discovered the news.
RIP Kurt Leswing.
Until Next Time,
Alan Shih at Sea
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Incredible and Unforgettable Vietnam
Sorry for not updating for the longest time, but I’ve been too busy with papers and final coming up soon. This entry is going to be mostly about Vietnam, but quick overview of Malaysia:
I went to Kek Lok Si Temple in temple for the first day. It was a beautiful place, but much of it was under construction especially the pagoda. Then at night, I went to some clubs and bars at night. The next day, we went to Kuala Lumpur by coach, it took 5 hours in a very nice luxury coach. We stayed at the awesome Mandarin Oriental for cheap, and at the hotel I went to their infinity pool, Jacuzzi, and saunas everyday. Basically, the first day in KL, we went to an indoor amusement park, a very nice bar on the 30th floor of a hotel, and then attempted to go to a club, but the club was too expensive. Then the next day, we went to the Batu caves, which a monkey with a baby jumped on me and stole my ice cream! Then we went to Chinatown where I had some fun bartering for a watch; I bought a fake Carrera watch for about 4 US dollars and some Hugo Boss Cologne. On the last day, we went to a bird sanctuary, where most of us where bitten by tons of mosquitoes, and at night we went to an awesome club where there were dancers on top of the bars. I danced the night away and returned to our hotel. The next day we took a luxury coach back to Penang. Malaysia was fun, but nothing amazing. However, I did have tons of Chinese food in Malaysia, which made me really happy. I love fried rice.
What was amazing though was Vietnam. Of all the port I have been too, Vietnam has been number one in terms of experience. It was an adventure to say the least. So here is what went down:
Basically, the first day we flew to Hanoi from Saigon. There was strong turbulence when the plane was landing, which freaked me out to the point that I let out a small scream; flying makes me nervous. At the airport we met our tour guide, Thanh; he had a Vietnamese-British accent to his English. Our first stop was a water puppet show; it was actually more exciting that I thought it would be; the puppets moved very fluidly in the water and the music that accompanied the show matched the movements of the puppets. Afterwards, we had a very nice Vietnamese dinner at a restaurant where the restaurant owner came up to us and said we were a happy bunch and wanted our picture on his website; we were his “preferred” customers. We then returned to our small boutique hotel in Hanoi where we stayed the night.
The next day, the 15 of us boarded an empty 40 seater bus and drove three and half hours to Halong Bay. Immediately, at Halong Bay, we boarded our Chinese style junk names Huy Hoang. The junk was amazing. It had a tanning deck, a sitting and eating deck, and a cabin deck. I had my own cabin. The first day we sailed around Halong bay in our junk enjoying the spectacular views. We visited the “Amazing” Cave, which was dark and cool on the inside. Then at dusk, we kayaked in Halong bay, and actually kayaked under a cave into a calming inlet.
At night, a bunch of people got drunk; it was actually pretty funny to watch. I heard the tour guide and some guys in our group were jokingly hitting each other. Also, I heard the tour guide jokingly attempted to kiss one of the girls.
The next day was when the real adventure began. We sailed for about an hour in Halong Bay. I felt like I was a pirate in the Caribbean sitting in the front of the boat with my legs out. The boat moved up and down as it sailed, and my feet came close to touching the water a couple of times. We arrive to Cat Ba Island, and had a rustic bicycle ride though the countryside. At that point, I was really enjoying myself; as I bicycled, I saw a pack of goats, a family of puppies, and several kids who gave us high fives as we bicycled through their village. We then stopped and hiked though the forest to a cave where the Vietnamese used to hide in during the Civil and Vietnam War. During the hike, however, this one girl kept on complaining on how dirty and tired she was. On top of that she was in a dress lol. I was annoyed with her at that point, but I didn’t want to cause any drama so I just let her be. During the hike, we encountered a field of yellow butterflies, went over a creek on a skimpy branch, and went down a slippery route where I slipped a couple of times.
After biking back to the boat, the boat stopped at a beach where we were able to get off the ship and swim. It was an amazing swim since the beautiful scenery of Halong Bay surrounded us. Moreover, it was the first time I’ve ever swam in an ocean, and I loved it, but at the same time, I was scared of deep water. After an amazing Vietnamese lunch on the beach, we swam some more, and we made it our goal to swim like five hundred feet to another beach. To our surprise, the water was waist high most of the way, but at the same time, the bottom of the ocean had sharp rocks, and I cut myself on the bottom of my feet and on the side of the stomach; they were minor scratches. After going back to the ship, we were able to jump off from the top of the junk, which was too exciting. A bunch of us did flips, dives, and cannonballs. I personally tried to do a flip, but ended up landing on my stomach, which was too painful.
We then kayaked again, but this time I kayaked around a floating village, which was an interesting experience. I wonder how these people survive on these floating villages. I have heard that these people are here because they cannot afford any housing on land, so they move to Halong Bay.
Our last stop on the junk was Monkey Island. We assumed that the boat would be able to dock on Monkey Island, but our tour guide told us because the shore was too shallow, we would have to swim about 100-200 feet to the shore, and most of us did that. We encountered some strong ocean currents during the swim, but we were able to make it. We did not stay long on Monkey Island since it was getting to dark. We only saw one monkey, and that monkey almost attacked the smallest girl in our girl; she let out a loud shrill. However, most of us did hike up a very steep rocky slope to attempt to reach the top. This is where I got more than 12 mosquito bites because I was shirtless. It was a treacherous and dangerous hike to say the least; we had to use a rope. The most intense part of the trip happened as we attempted to swim back to the ship from Monkey Island at night. Most people had no trouble making back to the ship if they swam hard enough, but the smallest girl in our ship was not able to make it back by herself, and the ocean current were pulling her into the ocean! I told her to grab onto me and another guy pushed her. At first we swam hard, but we did not move anywhere. Then, I swam as hard as I could as if I were back on my high school swim team. Finally, we were able to reach the ship. I heard the girl was crying afterwards because she actually contemplated with the thought of giving up swimming since it was impossible for her to make it by herself. Also, a couple of people told me that I drifted very close to the propellers of the ship, which made the “little” girl and some people on the ship scared for me. After hearing that I was almost maimed, I was shocked and felt uncomfortable for the next couple of hours. However, the drifting might have just been due to the ocean currents.
However, I was over it once we arrive on Cat Ba Island and checked into our hotels. During the night, I got two massages. Both massages were inappropriate to say the least. The first massage place was recommended to us by a hotel worker. He said he gave us special place because we are American. The girls that massaged us were dressed in skimpy skirts and in high heels. I entered the massage parlor nervously and discovered that our massages were in dim private rooms with showers and beds in to. I left my underwear on even though she told me to take it off. She gave me an okay massage, which was painful at some points to be honest. I think she understood I did not want any “extra services” so she did not offer. My friend, however, was offered a “happy ending,” which he refused. I then went to more legitimate place at a hotel to get a 7 US dollar massage. This place had actual massage beds. During my massage though, the masseuse pointed to my private and said “Massa?” I was shocked and immediately refused, but I had a laugh out of it afterwards.
I went to bed, and the next day I woke up with the biggest bump on my eyelid. It was from a mosquito bite. My eyes were smaller than usual, and I looked more Asian than I ever did in my life. We boarded another junk and sailed back to the mainland, but the ship did make a five minute stop where some of up jumped off the ship again. When I climbed back to the ship, I cut the bottom of my toe open, so I wrapped it up with a band-aid, and it has been fine ever since. At the airport in Hanoi, we said good bye to our tour guide, and I think he was about to cry because he said he had the greatest time with us. Before leaving, he said a proverb that was very powerful and touching: “What is the most beautiful flower in the world? It is the tulip.” The tulip is interpreted to two lips, a smile.
My last day in Vietnam, I walked around in Saigon, nothing much.
Even though I was destroyed by Halong Bay with cuts, bruises, and mosquito bites, it was a spectacular adventure that has defined my Semester at Sea experience. I will definitely go back to “Long Dragon” Bay in the future.
Until Next Time,
Alan Shih at Sea
P.S. I will update on China and Japan in the next week or so
I went to Kek Lok Si Temple in temple for the first day. It was a beautiful place, but much of it was under construction especially the pagoda. Then at night, I went to some clubs and bars at night. The next day, we went to Kuala Lumpur by coach, it took 5 hours in a very nice luxury coach. We stayed at the awesome Mandarin Oriental for cheap, and at the hotel I went to their infinity pool, Jacuzzi, and saunas everyday. Basically, the first day in KL, we went to an indoor amusement park, a very nice bar on the 30th floor of a hotel, and then attempted to go to a club, but the club was too expensive. Then the next day, we went to the Batu caves, which a monkey with a baby jumped on me and stole my ice cream! Then we went to Chinatown where I had some fun bartering for a watch; I bought a fake Carrera watch for about 4 US dollars and some Hugo Boss Cologne. On the last day, we went to a bird sanctuary, where most of us where bitten by tons of mosquitoes, and at night we went to an awesome club where there were dancers on top of the bars. I danced the night away and returned to our hotel. The next day we took a luxury coach back to Penang. Malaysia was fun, but nothing amazing. However, I did have tons of Chinese food in Malaysia, which made me really happy. I love fried rice.
What was amazing though was Vietnam. Of all the port I have been too, Vietnam has been number one in terms of experience. It was an adventure to say the least. So here is what went down:
Basically, the first day we flew to Hanoi from Saigon. There was strong turbulence when the plane was landing, which freaked me out to the point that I let out a small scream; flying makes me nervous. At the airport we met our tour guide, Thanh; he had a Vietnamese-British accent to his English. Our first stop was a water puppet show; it was actually more exciting that I thought it would be; the puppets moved very fluidly in the water and the music that accompanied the show matched the movements of the puppets. Afterwards, we had a very nice Vietnamese dinner at a restaurant where the restaurant owner came up to us and said we were a happy bunch and wanted our picture on his website; we were his “preferred” customers. We then returned to our small boutique hotel in Hanoi where we stayed the night.
The next day, the 15 of us boarded an empty 40 seater bus and drove three and half hours to Halong Bay. Immediately, at Halong Bay, we boarded our Chinese style junk names Huy Hoang. The junk was amazing. It had a tanning deck, a sitting and eating deck, and a cabin deck. I had my own cabin. The first day we sailed around Halong bay in our junk enjoying the spectacular views. We visited the “Amazing” Cave, which was dark and cool on the inside. Then at dusk, we kayaked in Halong bay, and actually kayaked under a cave into a calming inlet.
At night, a bunch of people got drunk; it was actually pretty funny to watch. I heard the tour guide and some guys in our group were jokingly hitting each other. Also, I heard the tour guide jokingly attempted to kiss one of the girls.
The next day was when the real adventure began. We sailed for about an hour in Halong Bay. I felt like I was a pirate in the Caribbean sitting in the front of the boat with my legs out. The boat moved up and down as it sailed, and my feet came close to touching the water a couple of times. We arrive to Cat Ba Island, and had a rustic bicycle ride though the countryside. At that point, I was really enjoying myself; as I bicycled, I saw a pack of goats, a family of puppies, and several kids who gave us high fives as we bicycled through their village. We then stopped and hiked though the forest to a cave where the Vietnamese used to hide in during the Civil and Vietnam War. During the hike, however, this one girl kept on complaining on how dirty and tired she was. On top of that she was in a dress lol. I was annoyed with her at that point, but I didn’t want to cause any drama so I just let her be. During the hike, we encountered a field of yellow butterflies, went over a creek on a skimpy branch, and went down a slippery route where I slipped a couple of times.
After biking back to the boat, the boat stopped at a beach where we were able to get off the ship and swim. It was an amazing swim since the beautiful scenery of Halong Bay surrounded us. Moreover, it was the first time I’ve ever swam in an ocean, and I loved it, but at the same time, I was scared of deep water. After an amazing Vietnamese lunch on the beach, we swam some more, and we made it our goal to swim like five hundred feet to another beach. To our surprise, the water was waist high most of the way, but at the same time, the bottom of the ocean had sharp rocks, and I cut myself on the bottom of my feet and on the side of the stomach; they were minor scratches. After going back to the ship, we were able to jump off from the top of the junk, which was too exciting. A bunch of us did flips, dives, and cannonballs. I personally tried to do a flip, but ended up landing on my stomach, which was too painful.
We then kayaked again, but this time I kayaked around a floating village, which was an interesting experience. I wonder how these people survive on these floating villages. I have heard that these people are here because they cannot afford any housing on land, so they move to Halong Bay.
Our last stop on the junk was Monkey Island. We assumed that the boat would be able to dock on Monkey Island, but our tour guide told us because the shore was too shallow, we would have to swim about 100-200 feet to the shore, and most of us did that. We encountered some strong ocean currents during the swim, but we were able to make it. We did not stay long on Monkey Island since it was getting to dark. We only saw one monkey, and that monkey almost attacked the smallest girl in our girl; she let out a loud shrill. However, most of us did hike up a very steep rocky slope to attempt to reach the top. This is where I got more than 12 mosquito bites because I was shirtless. It was a treacherous and dangerous hike to say the least; we had to use a rope. The most intense part of the trip happened as we attempted to swim back to the ship from Monkey Island at night. Most people had no trouble making back to the ship if they swam hard enough, but the smallest girl in our ship was not able to make it back by herself, and the ocean current were pulling her into the ocean! I told her to grab onto me and another guy pushed her. At first we swam hard, but we did not move anywhere. Then, I swam as hard as I could as if I were back on my high school swim team. Finally, we were able to reach the ship. I heard the girl was crying afterwards because she actually contemplated with the thought of giving up swimming since it was impossible for her to make it by herself. Also, a couple of people told me that I drifted very close to the propellers of the ship, which made the “little” girl and some people on the ship scared for me. After hearing that I was almost maimed, I was shocked and felt uncomfortable for the next couple of hours. However, the drifting might have just been due to the ocean currents.
However, I was over it once we arrive on Cat Ba Island and checked into our hotels. During the night, I got two massages. Both massages were inappropriate to say the least. The first massage place was recommended to us by a hotel worker. He said he gave us special place because we are American. The girls that massaged us were dressed in skimpy skirts and in high heels. I entered the massage parlor nervously and discovered that our massages were in dim private rooms with showers and beds in to. I left my underwear on even though she told me to take it off. She gave me an okay massage, which was painful at some points to be honest. I think she understood I did not want any “extra services” so she did not offer. My friend, however, was offered a “happy ending,” which he refused. I then went to more legitimate place at a hotel to get a 7 US dollar massage. This place had actual massage beds. During my massage though, the masseuse pointed to my private and said “Massa?” I was shocked and immediately refused, but I had a laugh out of it afterwards.
I went to bed, and the next day I woke up with the biggest bump on my eyelid. It was from a mosquito bite. My eyes were smaller than usual, and I looked more Asian than I ever did in my life. We boarded another junk and sailed back to the mainland, but the ship did make a five minute stop where some of up jumped off the ship again. When I climbed back to the ship, I cut the bottom of my toe open, so I wrapped it up with a band-aid, and it has been fine ever since. At the airport in Hanoi, we said good bye to our tour guide, and I think he was about to cry because he said he had the greatest time with us. Before leaving, he said a proverb that was very powerful and touching: “What is the most beautiful flower in the world? It is the tulip.” The tulip is interpreted to two lips, a smile.
My last day in Vietnam, I walked around in Saigon, nothing much.
Even though I was destroyed by Halong Bay with cuts, bruises, and mosquito bites, it was a spectacular adventure that has defined my Semester at Sea experience. I will definitely go back to “Long Dragon” Bay in the future.
Until Next Time,
Alan Shih at Sea
P.S. I will update on China and Japan in the next week or so
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Etcetera
There are some things I feel like blogging about
Being Asian onboard:
Coming onboard the ship, I didn’t know what to expect being in the minority. Throughout my life, I’ve always been in a majority meaning I have always lived in Asian dominated areas. Semester at Sea was the first time I’ve lived in an area for a considerable period of time where most of the people were not Asian.
One of the most common things many non-Asian students would do is confuse me with other Asian students that look nothing like me. It was frustrating for me, but I had to understand that many of these students come from areas where there are no Asian people. Another thing that many people onboard the ship would do is ask if I was the exchange student. I was a little surprised by this because I thought most people would know that Asians can Americans too.
Studying onboard:
Studying onboard is the hardest thing to do. On land, I would not have any problems completing my work on time, but when I’m switching from land to sea all the time, it’s very hard to concentrate on academics all the time. Moreover, all my classes are boring. I thought I would enjoy my classes since the topics seem interesting. However, most of my professors are uninteresting and give ridiculous amounts of reading.
Alcoholism:
I choose not to drink much alcohol, maybe one or two beer once in a while; however, I am fine with others getting drunk. It is people not drinking responsibility and acting stupid I have a problem with. So many times have I felt embarrassed to be associated with being American because students have acted ridiculous when drunk at inappropriate times. For example, I was in a club in Malaysia; all the Malaysians were not drunk, and many of the Semester at Sea students were uncoordinated and extremely loud. Another example, some students decided in an overnight train in India to get drunk while there were other Indians next to them; I heard one of the SAS students got do drunk that he urinated on the wall in the cabin next to one of the beds.
I feel extremely irritated that some students just cannot live without alcohol for 4 or 5 days. I wish these students would actually realize the impact on themselves and Americans in general they have when they act like fools when intoxicated. It seems like these students do not know how to have fun without alcohol. Some people still have not learned to be responsible when drinking.
On a positive note:
The ship is arriving in Vietnam today, and I will be flying to Hanoi soon to check out Ha Long Bay. I am very excited for this trip because I have heard Ha Long Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Until Next Time,
Alan Shih at Sea
Being Asian onboard:
Coming onboard the ship, I didn’t know what to expect being in the minority. Throughout my life, I’ve always been in a majority meaning I have always lived in Asian dominated areas. Semester at Sea was the first time I’ve lived in an area for a considerable period of time where most of the people were not Asian.
One of the most common things many non-Asian students would do is confuse me with other Asian students that look nothing like me. It was frustrating for me, but I had to understand that many of these students come from areas where there are no Asian people. Another thing that many people onboard the ship would do is ask if I was the exchange student. I was a little surprised by this because I thought most people would know that Asians can Americans too.
Studying onboard:
Studying onboard is the hardest thing to do. On land, I would not have any problems completing my work on time, but when I’m switching from land to sea all the time, it’s very hard to concentrate on academics all the time. Moreover, all my classes are boring. I thought I would enjoy my classes since the topics seem interesting. However, most of my professors are uninteresting and give ridiculous amounts of reading.
Alcoholism:
I choose not to drink much alcohol, maybe one or two beer once in a while; however, I am fine with others getting drunk. It is people not drinking responsibility and acting stupid I have a problem with. So many times have I felt embarrassed to be associated with being American because students have acted ridiculous when drunk at inappropriate times. For example, I was in a club in Malaysia; all the Malaysians were not drunk, and many of the Semester at Sea students were uncoordinated and extremely loud. Another example, some students decided in an overnight train in India to get drunk while there were other Indians next to them; I heard one of the SAS students got do drunk that he urinated on the wall in the cabin next to one of the beds.
I feel extremely irritated that some students just cannot live without alcohol for 4 or 5 days. I wish these students would actually realize the impact on themselves and Americans in general they have when they act like fools when intoxicated. It seems like these students do not know how to have fun without alcohol. Some people still have not learned to be responsible when drinking.
On a positive note:
The ship is arriving in Vietnam today, and I will be flying to Hanoi soon to check out Ha Long Bay. I am very excited for this trip because I have heard Ha Long Bay is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Until Next Time,
Alan Shih at Sea
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Overwhelming India- Nothing Like It
Before I start writing about India, I would like to apologize for not updating the blog for almost a month. To be honest, I have been pretty busy with class work, tired, and a “little” lazy. However, below is a very long India update. I will update you guys on South Africa in another entry very soon.
There is nothing like India: India was the most eye-opening experience I have ever had; I felt like I was on another planet. India is different; it looks different, it smells different, it feels different from anything I have experienced. It was a sensory overload: people and rickshaws were everywhere, and no one had personal space. I don’t know if I would describe my experience as particularly an enjoyable one, but it was an exciting and thrilling one. It was an adventure to say the least.
The MV Explorer stopped in Chennai (Madras), and soon after, a group of 47 of us left for a tour of Agra, Varanasi and Delhi. The walk to the bus to drive us to Chennai Airport was a funny experience; it was extremely hot and humid, and all of us were pouring with sweat by the time we reached the bus; the bus had no AC, but it had flies/mosquitoes everywhere.
After we reached New Delhi by plane, I noticed many differences in between Chennai and Delhi. Most of the people in Delhi were lighter-skinned than those in Chennai, and much of the city seemed more developed than Chennai. Soon after we arrived at the airport, we boarded another bus to take us to Agra, the location of the Taj Mahal; the bus ride turned out to be a six hour bus ride, not a two hour ride that I was originally told. The ride was quite the adventure itself too; a few of us in the back played ten fingers and hot seat; we revealed more about our personal lives than we would have wanted too :) . Moreover, the bus ride was the bumpiest ride ever; I felt like I was on an Indiana Jones Ride in the middle of the night. We finally arrived at the hotel in Agra 3:40 in the morning.
The next morning we visited the Taj Mahal; the Taj is a wonderful piece of architecture; however, I was not awed by the Taj, and I think visiting it once is good enough for me. At the Taj, most of us were taking pictures, including many jumping photos. When we left the Taj, a barrage of boys and men attacked us trying to sell us souvenirs, but I was not tempted by anything and was successful in avoiding most of them. After the Taj, we visited Agra Fort, which I thought was much more interesting than the Taj. It was a large red fort where the Taj creator was imprisoned by his son. The fort had many interesting rooms that made it seem like a labyrinth. The most interesting attraction in the fort had to be the monkeys; they were running everywhere, and they were not afraid of the humans. Some of us even saw the monkeys getting it on, not only between males and females, but also between males and males.
We took the overnight train to Varanasi from Agra. The overnight train felt very dated and dirty, especially the restroom; I felt like cringing every time I went to the restroom. My hand sanitizer was in good use most of the time. Surprisingly, I slept better than I expected; I think it might have to do with me taking sleeping pills. After a 12 hour train ride, we went to a hotel to wash up and have lunch. What do I think about Indian food? It is awesome! It is up there with Chinese and Japanese food for me; I love naan and curry. I will definitely eat more Indian food when I go back to Berkeley.
Driving through Varanasi, I felt like the city was more chaotic and crowded together than Delhi and Chennai. There were bikes, rickshaws, cars, cows, even elephants all on the street together. The city also felt a little less developed than the major cities. We first visited a temple, which was nothing special, and then we went to the Ganges River. We went on a river ride with a local boy as a guide. It was a very interesting ride. There were many temples next to the river, and next to them were people bathing in the water or burning bodies. We did learn before arrive to the river that the river is extremely polluted with human feces and such; one group even saw bloated dead bodies in the river; thus, I was extremely careful in not getting any mud on myself. One person did graze his mud-ridden shoe on my hand, which I immediately sanitized with hand sanitizer. The boy was drinking the water and washing their faces with it which made me wonder if his body is used to the amount of pollution in the water.
We then took another overnight train, but this time to Delhi. This train was nicer and cleaner, and I was able to sleep better than I did on the first overnight train. At Delhi, we visited a massive Hindu temple, which I thought was much more interesting than the Taj Mahal. The huge temple had intricate marble carvings everywhere, from top the bottom; it was unfortunate no photos or videos where allowed. The temple did, however, feel like a tourist attraction like the Taj; it felt commercialized. For example, there was an “It’s A Small World” style boat ride where we were told that the Indians were the first to think of geometry, plastic surgery, democracy, etc. Also, there was an IMAX theatre and water show, which we skipped. After the temple and some time in Delhi, we went to a nice Indian restaurant, and once again, I ate massive amounts of curry, rice and naan; I’m surprised I have not gotten sick/diarrhea because I’ve heard that most first time visitors get sick in India. It must be due to the massive amounts of pepto I take before each meal in India.
At night, I went to a market briefly, where I ended up not buying anything. My friend Ben did buy two belts though for two US dollars. The vendor was going to charge him five US dollar per belt, but Ben did not budge; most of us have become pros at bargaining after several experiences of taxi drivers/vendors trying to overcharge us everywhere in India and previous ports. As the night went on, a bunch of us went to F-Bar, one of the “best” clubs in Delhi, to celebrate our last night in India and two person’s birthdays. The “discotec” (club) cost twenty USD to get in, and it was well worth it. The club was extremely nice; the ambience was exciting. I danced much of the night with mostly students in our group. The only downer to the club was that there were not much people on the dance floor; I think might be due to the reason that Indians are more conservative. For example, when one of our male compatriots tried to go up to an Indian girl to dance, she immediately stepped back, and her Indian male friend jumped in between her and our male friend. Our birthday boy, Ryan, got trashed, and some of us had to help him back to the hotel; he had several shots, including a sick flaming shot, which I bought for him with my alcohol voucher (I’m not a big drinker). I did not sleep that night because I got back to the hotel at 2:30 AM and we needed to catch a bus to the airport at 4 AM to fly back to Chennai.
The last day in India, couple of other people and I went to a shopping mall called Spencer’s, which I ended up not buying anything at too; I’m not too big on souvenirs, pictures and videos are my souvenirs. However, before reaching Spencer’s the rickshaw driver gave us a big headache by trying to rip us off; he acted like he did not know where Spencer’s was and took us to an expensive store designed specifically for naïve tourists. He eventually did take us to Spencer’s, but after telling us it’s going to take hours to get there and that it’s already closed. I did wonder why it took so long to drive to Spencer’s; I even almost felt asleep in the hot and humid rickshaw, but my rickshaw partner told me it was from the massive air pollution in Chennai, and that I was “slowly dying” from carbon monoxide poisoning lol.
There was a massive political demonstration where India’s highest grossing film star was trying to establish a new political party when we were returning from Spencer’s. His picture was literally everywhere; every feet, and every corner of the street, his picture was up. There were even seventy feet high posters of him. Almost everyone on the street had a yellow shirt on with a picture of him, and we drove for almost an hour without missing the yellow shirts. We did learn afterwards that most of the people were poor individuals who went to the demonstration because they were paid rupees and were given shirts and hats for free; I have also heard that some of them go because they were bribed with alcohol. The middle/upper-class, however, do not participate in these type of demonstrations.
In the end, I did not particularly enjoy my India experience, but it was something I did not regret. It opened my eyes to another dimension of the world I have never seen before, and I now know Americans are very VERY lucky; we are lucky to have food, shelter, and we should not take anything we have for granted because I now know through experience that hundreds of millions of people see my life as heaven. India was an overwhelming experience, which definitely left a huge imprint on my mind.
Until next time after Malaysia,
Alan Shih at Sea
PS Check Pics on my facebook
There is nothing like India: India was the most eye-opening experience I have ever had; I felt like I was on another planet. India is different; it looks different, it smells different, it feels different from anything I have experienced. It was a sensory overload: people and rickshaws were everywhere, and no one had personal space. I don’t know if I would describe my experience as particularly an enjoyable one, but it was an exciting and thrilling one. It was an adventure to say the least.
The MV Explorer stopped in Chennai (Madras), and soon after, a group of 47 of us left for a tour of Agra, Varanasi and Delhi. The walk to the bus to drive us to Chennai Airport was a funny experience; it was extremely hot and humid, and all of us were pouring with sweat by the time we reached the bus; the bus had no AC, but it had flies/mosquitoes everywhere.
After we reached New Delhi by plane, I noticed many differences in between Chennai and Delhi. Most of the people in Delhi were lighter-skinned than those in Chennai, and much of the city seemed more developed than Chennai. Soon after we arrived at the airport, we boarded another bus to take us to Agra, the location of the Taj Mahal; the bus ride turned out to be a six hour bus ride, not a two hour ride that I was originally told. The ride was quite the adventure itself too; a few of us in the back played ten fingers and hot seat; we revealed more about our personal lives than we would have wanted too :) . Moreover, the bus ride was the bumpiest ride ever; I felt like I was on an Indiana Jones Ride in the middle of the night. We finally arrived at the hotel in Agra 3:40 in the morning.
The next morning we visited the Taj Mahal; the Taj is a wonderful piece of architecture; however, I was not awed by the Taj, and I think visiting it once is good enough for me. At the Taj, most of us were taking pictures, including many jumping photos. When we left the Taj, a barrage of boys and men attacked us trying to sell us souvenirs, but I was not tempted by anything and was successful in avoiding most of them. After the Taj, we visited Agra Fort, which I thought was much more interesting than the Taj. It was a large red fort where the Taj creator was imprisoned by his son. The fort had many interesting rooms that made it seem like a labyrinth. The most interesting attraction in the fort had to be the monkeys; they were running everywhere, and they were not afraid of the humans. Some of us even saw the monkeys getting it on, not only between males and females, but also between males and males.
We took the overnight train to Varanasi from Agra. The overnight train felt very dated and dirty, especially the restroom; I felt like cringing every time I went to the restroom. My hand sanitizer was in good use most of the time. Surprisingly, I slept better than I expected; I think it might have to do with me taking sleeping pills. After a 12 hour train ride, we went to a hotel to wash up and have lunch. What do I think about Indian food? It is awesome! It is up there with Chinese and Japanese food for me; I love naan and curry. I will definitely eat more Indian food when I go back to Berkeley.
Driving through Varanasi, I felt like the city was more chaotic and crowded together than Delhi and Chennai. There were bikes, rickshaws, cars, cows, even elephants all on the street together. The city also felt a little less developed than the major cities. We first visited a temple, which was nothing special, and then we went to the Ganges River. We went on a river ride with a local boy as a guide. It was a very interesting ride. There were many temples next to the river, and next to them were people bathing in the water or burning bodies. We did learn before arrive to the river that the river is extremely polluted with human feces and such; one group even saw bloated dead bodies in the river; thus, I was extremely careful in not getting any mud on myself. One person did graze his mud-ridden shoe on my hand, which I immediately sanitized with hand sanitizer. The boy was drinking the water and washing their faces with it which made me wonder if his body is used to the amount of pollution in the water.
We then took another overnight train, but this time to Delhi. This train was nicer and cleaner, and I was able to sleep better than I did on the first overnight train. At Delhi, we visited a massive Hindu temple, which I thought was much more interesting than the Taj Mahal. The huge temple had intricate marble carvings everywhere, from top the bottom; it was unfortunate no photos or videos where allowed. The temple did, however, feel like a tourist attraction like the Taj; it felt commercialized. For example, there was an “It’s A Small World” style boat ride where we were told that the Indians were the first to think of geometry, plastic surgery, democracy, etc. Also, there was an IMAX theatre and water show, which we skipped. After the temple and some time in Delhi, we went to a nice Indian restaurant, and once again, I ate massive amounts of curry, rice and naan; I’m surprised I have not gotten sick/diarrhea because I’ve heard that most first time visitors get sick in India. It must be due to the massive amounts of pepto I take before each meal in India.
At night, I went to a market briefly, where I ended up not buying anything. My friend Ben did buy two belts though for two US dollars. The vendor was going to charge him five US dollar per belt, but Ben did not budge; most of us have become pros at bargaining after several experiences of taxi drivers/vendors trying to overcharge us everywhere in India and previous ports. As the night went on, a bunch of us went to F-Bar, one of the “best” clubs in Delhi, to celebrate our last night in India and two person’s birthdays. The “discotec” (club) cost twenty USD to get in, and it was well worth it. The club was extremely nice; the ambience was exciting. I danced much of the night with mostly students in our group. The only downer to the club was that there were not much people on the dance floor; I think might be due to the reason that Indians are more conservative. For example, when one of our male compatriots tried to go up to an Indian girl to dance, she immediately stepped back, and her Indian male friend jumped in between her and our male friend. Our birthday boy, Ryan, got trashed, and some of us had to help him back to the hotel; he had several shots, including a sick flaming shot, which I bought for him with my alcohol voucher (I’m not a big drinker). I did not sleep that night because I got back to the hotel at 2:30 AM and we needed to catch a bus to the airport at 4 AM to fly back to Chennai.
The last day in India, couple of other people and I went to a shopping mall called Spencer’s, which I ended up not buying anything at too; I’m not too big on souvenirs, pictures and videos are my souvenirs. However, before reaching Spencer’s the rickshaw driver gave us a big headache by trying to rip us off; he acted like he did not know where Spencer’s was and took us to an expensive store designed specifically for naïve tourists. He eventually did take us to Spencer’s, but after telling us it’s going to take hours to get there and that it’s already closed. I did wonder why it took so long to drive to Spencer’s; I even almost felt asleep in the hot and humid rickshaw, but my rickshaw partner told me it was from the massive air pollution in Chennai, and that I was “slowly dying” from carbon monoxide poisoning lol.
There was a massive political demonstration where India’s highest grossing film star was trying to establish a new political party when we were returning from Spencer’s. His picture was literally everywhere; every feet, and every corner of the street, his picture was up. There were even seventy feet high posters of him. Almost everyone on the street had a yellow shirt on with a picture of him, and we drove for almost an hour without missing the yellow shirts. We did learn afterwards that most of the people were poor individuals who went to the demonstration because they were paid rupees and were given shirts and hats for free; I have also heard that some of them go because they were bribed with alcohol. The middle/upper-class, however, do not participate in these type of demonstrations.
In the end, I did not particularly enjoy my India experience, but it was something I did not regret. It opened my eyes to another dimension of the world I have never seen before, and I now know Americans are very VERY lucky; we are lucky to have food, shelter, and we should not take anything we have for granted because I now know through experience that hundreds of millions of people see my life as heaven. India was an overwhelming experience, which definitely left a huge imprint on my mind.
Until next time after Malaysia,
Alan Shih at Sea
PS Check Pics on my facebook
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Amazing Namibia
Sorry for not posting an update for the longest time, I’ve just been a little tired. Ship life is great, but I just have not gotten used to the rocking; thus, I am having a lot of trouble falling sleep. Classes are okay, but I am taking more and more interest in them, especially my comparative literature class; we discuss about the different types of theoretical approaches of space and how they can be applied to real life. I have also gotten through the first bout of tests and papers, which was not as bad as I thought it would be.
After eight weeks at sea, the MV Explorer finally arrived at Walvis Bay, Namibia. When the ship was docking, it was cold as hell, and there was fog. I was not expecting it to be so cold because I had always thought Africa was a warm place. This was the first preconceived notion that was broken. After the ship docked, I went off the ship with a group of friends and walked around in the city. My first impressions of the city were positive: the city was clean, uncongested, and semi-developed. Many people from the ship expressed their feelings of thinking that Walvis Bay did not feel like Africa. I believe the reason for this is because many of us expected Africa to be a place where all the people were poor and destitute. However, the city was quite westernized; there was a KFC and many European cars in the city.
I returned to the ship and met up for a Faculty Directed Practica required for class. The FDP explored an oyster farm in Namibia. It was not very exciting to be honest. Most of the time, we stood in a warm enclosure were we looked at extremely small oysters. It was interesting, however, to see microscopic oyster moving around. At the end of the tour, the workers allowed us to try some large fresh oysters. Most of the people in my group ate the oyster, but I did not. I was very cautious because I did not want a repeat of what happened in Brazil (read last post).
Next day was when the real adventure began; I organized a four day tour with eight other students, and the first activity was an overnight quadbiking (ATV) trip. It was extremely thrilling: the guide took us all over the Namib Desert including sand dunes (where I got stuck once), the riverbed (where it was extremely dusty), and canyons. It was a sight not to be missed. I did encounter a mishap once, however; I was quadding through a riverbed and it was extremely dusty that I was barely able to see anything ahead of me, and long and behold, there was a 180 degree sharp turn ahead. I was able to break some, but it was not enough and I flipped over with my quadbike. I fell into a bush, and my quadbike was on its side. Good thing I fell into a bush and got two or three minor scratches; I was up and running in less than one minute.
We arrived at the campsite and it was better than I expected, I had my own tent with a bed and a shower. Also, we had dinner under three large rocks. The dinner was delicious: rice, beef stroganoff, bread, etc. Early next day we were quadding again, but this time to our sand boarding location. I choose to sand board lying down because I did not know how to snowboard. Sand boarding was an exciting experience since we sled down hills over speeds of 70 km/hr (which I think is over 50 mph?). I also had one mishap here: I was sliding down the biggest hill and right when I got to the end, I had a wipe-out where I rolled around in the sand a few times. I got sand in my clothes and mouth.
Later in the day we walked around in Swakopmund, a boring German tourist city. There was barely anyone on the streets. We did walk around on the beach, which was nice, and went to a market where every vendor was selling the same items: animal figurines and masks. I did not buy anything because I felt most of these objects were not “authentic,” but were, instead, exploiting the African stereotype of safari animals and tribal populations. I, instead bought a painting the next day during the all day 4x4 Jeep tour. The painting was a simple seagull painting, but it represented, I believe, the real Namibia because the painting was of a real coastline that we visited and was painted by a Topnaar person.
During the all day 4x4 tour, our tour guides, Fanie and Andrew, took us around the massive sand dunes; it was thrilling and rough at times like a roller coaster when we went over crest of hills and down 30 to 40 degree slopes. We first visited a field of human bones in the middle of the desert, and then a Topnaar family. The family had the cutest baby, but was living in poverty; the house was made out of simple materials and was in the middle of nowhere. We then stopped at Sandwich Harbour in the middle of the day. Sandwich Harbour, in my opinion, was one of the most beautiful places I have even seen; we drove up 500 feet high sand dunes and the view was spectacular because one side was full of sand dunes and the other side was the turquoise ocean. The juxtaposition of these two sceneries made for one amazing view, and to make it even better, we had lunch in between these two landscapes on the beach. I definitely loved it.
The last day was also an adventure when my group and I went kayaking in the harbour. It was a real treat because we were able to kayak next to a massive seal colony; they attempted to splash us at times. During the middle of the kayaking excursion, my friend and I almost marooned ourselves on the beach in the middle of the seal colony because we were too close to the shore. Good thing at the last minute we thought about reversing our boat away from the shore lol. For the rest of the day I went shopping for snacks and ate at Wimpey’s where I had delicious milkshakes. At the supermarket checkout, the cashier asked me to take her to America, and I think she wanted my contact information so she would be able to find her way to America. At this point, I felt a little bad that I could not really do anything, but it affirmed for me that I am lucky to be living in America, and I should not take that fact for granted.
In conclusion, my experience in Namibia was an amazing one and I will definitely come back in the near future so I can explore more of what Namibia has to offer. Until next time in Cape Town, South Africa:
Alan Shih at Sea
After eight weeks at sea, the MV Explorer finally arrived at Walvis Bay, Namibia. When the ship was docking, it was cold as hell, and there was fog. I was not expecting it to be so cold because I had always thought Africa was a warm place. This was the first preconceived notion that was broken. After the ship docked, I went off the ship with a group of friends and walked around in the city. My first impressions of the city were positive: the city was clean, uncongested, and semi-developed. Many people from the ship expressed their feelings of thinking that Walvis Bay did not feel like Africa. I believe the reason for this is because many of us expected Africa to be a place where all the people were poor and destitute. However, the city was quite westernized; there was a KFC and many European cars in the city.
I returned to the ship and met up for a Faculty Directed Practica required for class. The FDP explored an oyster farm in Namibia. It was not very exciting to be honest. Most of the time, we stood in a warm enclosure were we looked at extremely small oysters. It was interesting, however, to see microscopic oyster moving around. At the end of the tour, the workers allowed us to try some large fresh oysters. Most of the people in my group ate the oyster, but I did not. I was very cautious because I did not want a repeat of what happened in Brazil (read last post).
Next day was when the real adventure began; I organized a four day tour with eight other students, and the first activity was an overnight quadbiking (ATV) trip. It was extremely thrilling: the guide took us all over the Namib Desert including sand dunes (where I got stuck once), the riverbed (where it was extremely dusty), and canyons. It was a sight not to be missed. I did encounter a mishap once, however; I was quadding through a riverbed and it was extremely dusty that I was barely able to see anything ahead of me, and long and behold, there was a 180 degree sharp turn ahead. I was able to break some, but it was not enough and I flipped over with my quadbike. I fell into a bush, and my quadbike was on its side. Good thing I fell into a bush and got two or three minor scratches; I was up and running in less than one minute.
We arrived at the campsite and it was better than I expected, I had my own tent with a bed and a shower. Also, we had dinner under three large rocks. The dinner was delicious: rice, beef stroganoff, bread, etc. Early next day we were quadding again, but this time to our sand boarding location. I choose to sand board lying down because I did not know how to snowboard. Sand boarding was an exciting experience since we sled down hills over speeds of 70 km/hr (which I think is over 50 mph?). I also had one mishap here: I was sliding down the biggest hill and right when I got to the end, I had a wipe-out where I rolled around in the sand a few times. I got sand in my clothes and mouth.
Later in the day we walked around in Swakopmund, a boring German tourist city. There was barely anyone on the streets. We did walk around on the beach, which was nice, and went to a market where every vendor was selling the same items: animal figurines and masks. I did not buy anything because I felt most of these objects were not “authentic,” but were, instead, exploiting the African stereotype of safari animals and tribal populations. I, instead bought a painting the next day during the all day 4x4 Jeep tour. The painting was a simple seagull painting, but it represented, I believe, the real Namibia because the painting was of a real coastline that we visited and was painted by a Topnaar person.
During the all day 4x4 tour, our tour guides, Fanie and Andrew, took us around the massive sand dunes; it was thrilling and rough at times like a roller coaster when we went over crest of hills and down 30 to 40 degree slopes. We first visited a field of human bones in the middle of the desert, and then a Topnaar family. The family had the cutest baby, but was living in poverty; the house was made out of simple materials and was in the middle of nowhere. We then stopped at Sandwich Harbour in the middle of the day. Sandwich Harbour, in my opinion, was one of the most beautiful places I have even seen; we drove up 500 feet high sand dunes and the view was spectacular because one side was full of sand dunes and the other side was the turquoise ocean. The juxtaposition of these two sceneries made for one amazing view, and to make it even better, we had lunch in between these two landscapes on the beach. I definitely loved it.
The last day was also an adventure when my group and I went kayaking in the harbour. It was a real treat because we were able to kayak next to a massive seal colony; they attempted to splash us at times. During the middle of the kayaking excursion, my friend and I almost marooned ourselves on the beach in the middle of the seal colony because we were too close to the shore. Good thing at the last minute we thought about reversing our boat away from the shore lol. For the rest of the day I went shopping for snacks and ate at Wimpey’s where I had delicious milkshakes. At the supermarket checkout, the cashier asked me to take her to America, and I think she wanted my contact information so she would be able to find her way to America. At this point, I felt a little bad that I could not really do anything, but it affirmed for me that I am lucky to be living in America, and I should not take that fact for granted.
In conclusion, my experience in Namibia was an amazing one and I will definitely come back in the near future so I can explore more of what Namibia has to offer. Until next time in Cape Town, South Africa:
Alan Shih at Sea
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Rio De Janeiro
Even though my experience with the Rio trip was not all positive, I'm actually loving Rio. Yesterday, I went hang gliding in the morning; it was an amazing experience, and I think it was one of the best thing I did in Rio. The instructor and I took off from a mountain that was 1,500 high. I wasn't scared at first, but when I was about to run off the platform, I was a little intimidated. However, when we were in the air, I actually felt relaxed and was enjoying the spectacular view of Rio. I was able to see the city and beach. Also, we had an overview of the nice houses that were situated on the sides of the mountain. Landing was intense because it was fast, and I fell on my ass when we landed; it was all part of standard procedure though.
After hang gliding, a few of us went to soccer game. Even though I do not particularly enjoy watching soccer, let alone been to a soccer game, I wanted to experience Brazil's greatest passion: soccer. The game was the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Bolivia. My expectations for the game was that it was going to be crazy and wild. However, the game was not really what most people expected. The stadium was half full and the game was not really exciting; no goals were scored, which resulted in a tie. I did not really enjoy the game, but it was still a spectacle seeing the audience boo and chant "Punto" (bitch).
Oh yeah, we also went to the Copacabana beach to relax for a bit. It was nice and relaxing. However, I missed visiting the Sugar Loaf and the Redeemer, two main attractions in Rio. I was disappointed with this, but I will definitely come back to Rio soon so I can actually visit these two sites along with many other great sites I was also missed, including Ipanema. Copacaba beach was really nice, but I wouldnt say the best in Rio. I heard Ipanema and the "beautiful people" beach were better.
My day, however, was mared by, you guessed it, Travelers Diahhrea. Im not too embarrased to mention it because it is a very common sickness for Travelers. Much of the day, I had terrible stomach pains. It got unbearable during the soccer game. That was yesterday, and I feel much better now beause my body has gotten rid of the toxins and pepdo bismal has taken effect.
I also had an amazing time earlier in the week. I joined a favela tour of Brazils biggest favela, Rochina (pronounced Hosinia). Right before the tour, the girl who organized the tour in our group never showed up for the tour, so I gathered a bunch of people to join the tour. The tour itself opened a completely new perspective for me of the favelas. Before I joined the tour, I thought favelas were very poor slums where violence and drug cartels ruled the area; City of God, the movie that they played on the ship, really perpetuated that stereotype. However, the favelas actually werent as bad as I pictured it, and it was more lively than I thought. The tour really showed me that the favela community really isnt that bad. Even though the environment is dangerous and dirty, the people that lived there didnt seem to mind it because they are used to it. I believe they make the best out of the situation they are in.
After the favela tour, a couple of us went to a loungue/club called House. The place was really hip, though extremeley crowded. The club has great electronica music which I danced very much too. I was able to let loose in this club, something that I needed after days or tiring traveling in Rio. This is what Rio is all about; the nightlife.
Overall, Rio was a great experience for me. Even though many of the people in my group did not particurily get along with everybody else, the city atmosphere really made my Rio experience a particulariy gratifying one. I saw many things in Rio that most tourist do not see, and to be honest, I loved much of it. Thus, I feel a little sad and disappointed that I am soon leaving Rio and Brazil. However, I plan on returning to Rio soon so I can experience more of what Rio has to offer. Now, on to Namibia, Africa!!
So until next time,
Alan Shih at Sea
(Check my facebook profile for photos)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1238207
After hang gliding, a few of us went to soccer game. Even though I do not particularly enjoy watching soccer, let alone been to a soccer game, I wanted to experience Brazil's greatest passion: soccer. The game was the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Bolivia. My expectations for the game was that it was going to be crazy and wild. However, the game was not really what most people expected. The stadium was half full and the game was not really exciting; no goals were scored, which resulted in a tie. I did not really enjoy the game, but it was still a spectacle seeing the audience boo and chant "Punto" (bitch).
Oh yeah, we also went to the Copacabana beach to relax for a bit. It was nice and relaxing. However, I missed visiting the Sugar Loaf and the Redeemer, two main attractions in Rio. I was disappointed with this, but I will definitely come back to Rio soon so I can actually visit these two sites along with many other great sites I was also missed, including Ipanema. Copacaba beach was really nice, but I wouldnt say the best in Rio. I heard Ipanema and the "beautiful people" beach were better.
My day, however, was mared by, you guessed it, Travelers Diahhrea. Im not too embarrased to mention it because it is a very common sickness for Travelers. Much of the day, I had terrible stomach pains. It got unbearable during the soccer game. That was yesterday, and I feel much better now beause my body has gotten rid of the toxins and pepdo bismal has taken effect.
I also had an amazing time earlier in the week. I joined a favela tour of Brazils biggest favela, Rochina (pronounced Hosinia). Right before the tour, the girl who organized the tour in our group never showed up for the tour, so I gathered a bunch of people to join the tour. The tour itself opened a completely new perspective for me of the favelas. Before I joined the tour, I thought favelas were very poor slums where violence and drug cartels ruled the area; City of God, the movie that they played on the ship, really perpetuated that stereotype. However, the favelas actually werent as bad as I pictured it, and it was more lively than I thought. The tour really showed me that the favela community really isnt that bad. Even though the environment is dangerous and dirty, the people that lived there didnt seem to mind it because they are used to it. I believe they make the best out of the situation they are in.
After the favela tour, a couple of us went to a loungue/club called House. The place was really hip, though extremeley crowded. The club has great electronica music which I danced very much too. I was able to let loose in this club, something that I needed after days or tiring traveling in Rio. This is what Rio is all about; the nightlife.
Overall, Rio was a great experience for me. Even though many of the people in my group did not particurily get along with everybody else, the city atmosphere really made my Rio experience a particulariy gratifying one. I saw many things in Rio that most tourist do not see, and to be honest, I loved much of it. Thus, I feel a little sad and disappointed that I am soon leaving Rio and Brazil. However, I plan on returning to Rio soon so I can experience more of what Rio has to offer. Now, on to Namibia, Africa!!
So until next time,
Alan Shih at Sea
(Check my facebook profile for photos)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1238207
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Ship Life
We have just a couple more hours until we finally dock at our first port of call: Salvador, Brazil. From there, I will be taking a flight with about a dozen students to Rio de Janeiro. We will be staying at a hostel I believe on Ipanema Beach for 4 days. I will update more on Brazil later, but first ship life so far:
Classes have officially started, and I do not particularly love my classes. The teachers are good, though, some of them have a hard time teaching the class with enthusiasm. There is one class I really enjoy: Introduction in Science Education. This class is an education course where the professor utilizes a hands-on approach to teach student the best approach to educate primary school kids. The first day of class, student built the highest possible tower with straws, and in the most recent class, students built balloon powered cars. Being able to have a hands-on class really reminded me of time when classes were fun. Berkeley, being the stubborn bureaucracy they are, has refused to approve this course for credit, so I will be dropping the course and sticking with the original courses I signed up for.
On September 5th, the MV voyager officially crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere. It is actually my first time in the southern hemisphere. For celebrations, Neptune Day occurred. It is a tradition on Semester at Sea in which “Neptune” (actually some faculty member) tests persons on the ship to see if they are worthy. Here is what happened on the day:
The students were woken up by the crew playing some weird Greek flute music; the crew was dressed in traditional Greek costumes.
Students who wanted to be “tested” first got their heads poured with “fish guts” (I think some punch with fish oil).
Then, they jumped in the pool and got out to kiss a fish.
Lastly, those who were the bravest had their heads shaved. Many guys shaved their heads. However, so did a dozen or so girls. For the girls who shaved their heads, I respect them.
Unfortunately, I decided not to participate in this activity, but filmed and took pictures instead.
The social life is going strong for me; I continue to meet many persons everyday including, faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (seniors who join the trip). Moreover, I will be traveling to Rio with a bunch of people I have yet to interact with, so that should be exciting.
Until next time (with pictures!),
Alan Shih at Sea
Classes have officially started, and I do not particularly love my classes. The teachers are good, though, some of them have a hard time teaching the class with enthusiasm. There is one class I really enjoy: Introduction in Science Education. This class is an education course where the professor utilizes a hands-on approach to teach student the best approach to educate primary school kids. The first day of class, student built the highest possible tower with straws, and in the most recent class, students built balloon powered cars. Being able to have a hands-on class really reminded me of time when classes were fun. Berkeley, being the stubborn bureaucracy they are, has refused to approve this course for credit, so I will be dropping the course and sticking with the original courses I signed up for.
On September 5th, the MV voyager officially crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere. It is actually my first time in the southern hemisphere. For celebrations, Neptune Day occurred. It is a tradition on Semester at Sea in which “Neptune” (actually some faculty member) tests persons on the ship to see if they are worthy. Here is what happened on the day:
The students were woken up by the crew playing some weird Greek flute music; the crew was dressed in traditional Greek costumes.
Students who wanted to be “tested” first got their heads poured with “fish guts” (I think some punch with fish oil).
Then, they jumped in the pool and got out to kiss a fish.
Lastly, those who were the bravest had their heads shaved. Many guys shaved their heads. However, so did a dozen or so girls. For the girls who shaved their heads, I respect them.
Unfortunately, I decided not to participate in this activity, but filmed and took pictures instead.
The social life is going strong for me; I continue to meet many persons everyday including, faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (seniors who join the trip). Moreover, I will be traveling to Rio with a bunch of people I have yet to interact with, so that should be exciting.
Until next time (with pictures!),
Alan Shih at Sea
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