MY Superlative

In a two days it will be one hundred and nine days since I have left and I will have circum navigated around the world!!! It hard to fathom how fast this semester went by and all that I have done. Through this adventure I have seen, heard and experienced a vast amount of cultures, religions, food, weather, and terrain. I have created a superlative of my own evaluation of the countries I visited in order to answer some basic questions you might have. I am unable to pick a favorite country, as I have loved every single one for different reasons. This trip has changed me from the inside out (literally with no hair). I will forever remember the times I spent in port and on the ship. It has taught me many life lesson such as humility, listening, and the simply love of humanity.  Hope you enjoy… .

Most rewarding- India

Best food- Japan

Worst Food- India (only the curry)

Best beer-Japan

Least similar to US- Ghana

Most similar to US- Japan

Most like I imagined- None.

Least as I imagined- Brazil

Biggest Language Barrier- Brazil/ China

Hottest-Vietnam

Coldest-China

Most Sweaty- uhhhh everything but Japan and China

Most expensive- Japan
Least Expensive-India

Safest-Japan
Most dangerous- Brazil/ South Africa

Most beautiful- Mauritius 

Best Sunset- South Africa (literally every single color of the rainbow)

Best Sunrise-Vietnam

Most difficult to digest- India

Best stars- India

Best skyline- China (Shanghai and Hong Kong)

Cleanest- Japan!!!

Dirtiest-India

Best Nightlife- Hong Kong

Best markets- Vietnam

Favorite Music- South Africa

Most touristy- China

Least touristy- India

Most distinctive smell- India


Hottest Guys- South Africa

Worst car accident I was in- India

Most religious- South Africa/ Ghana

Least religious- Japan

Most unnecessary hang shakes- India

Friendliest- Vietnam

Least Friendliest- China

Most helpful- Japan

Least amount of sleep in port- India/ Japan


THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR GIVING ME THE WORLD!!!  I will forever be grateful and feel incredible blessed for this voyage around the world.
(I know I have missed two countries, but I will finish them as soon as possible… sorry! ☺

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

-Aristotle

 

Cape Town, South Africa

Table Mountain!

Rainbow Nation

Cape Town, South Africa

Day 1

My experience here started with a remarkable and life changing opportunity to meet with Linda Biehl.  I am not sure if anyone knows the story of Amy Biel but I will give you a short history of their story.  Amy was a student about the age of 22 I think who was in South Africa trying to aid in joining the white and black communities together during the apartheid.  She ended up getting stoned to death by four young black men. She instantly became an example as a white American woman who was killed during this time. According to her mother this is exactly what she didn’t want, as many blacks were being killed every day and were only known by a number and as soon as a white person died their name was everywhere.  She wanted to be known as a number. Two out of the four men a few years later where issued freedom from the TRC, which was established by Mandela and Desmund Tu Tu.
Linda Biehl many years later started the Amy Biehl Foundation, which is an after school program in a township on the outskirts of Cape Town. The foundation gives young children a safe place to play games, sports, and aid in bringing a community together. Two of the murders now work for the foundation with Linda (later in the week I had the opportunity to meet both of them). This woman has shown the true power of forgiveness and reconciliation, as she is able to move past the evil and see the good that can come out of a situation. Hearing her speak moved me to look at my own life and the situations where it is often hard to move on.  She is the most courageous and inspiring women I have ever heard speak. Loosing a child is often a parent’s worst fear and now this woman is working with the ones that murdered her daughter. She considers them very good friends and their daughters even call her grandmother.  Her love and compassion amazed me as she spoke. It was a blessing that she came onto the ship to talk with us. 
Now too dramatically change the subject on the rest of my day I went GREAT WHITE SHARK CAGE DIVING!!!! The company picked us up right from the ship and drove us about two hours to the other side. I was extremely excited and also very nervous. When we were on the boat about ten minutes and then they started placing fish chum in the water and began preparing us as what to do. The placed the cage inside the water and we began putting on wet suits. No joke only a few minutes later I saw my first great white shark right next to the boat. This is when I started freaking out because it was huge and I was about to get into the water with it!! It was the most thrilling thing I have ever done and I loved it every minute of it. The shark would come up to the cage and hit it and the whole boat would shake each time. One time it even got its mouth stuck in the cage!!!! It was really scary looking into the eyes of this enormous animal that could destroy me in a few seconds. I never felt unsafe inside the cage as long as I was carful where to my arms and legs. I couldn’t believe what I was doing and how awesome it was! I had a blast!
When we arrived back on the ship we went out to the waterfront, which is beautiful. It is nothing like the rest of the town and is extremely designed for the tourist. I often felt as if I was in England as all the white people have the British accents yet were born and raised in South Africa. We had dinner at a restaurant with live music and dancing. We met up with the rest of our friends and went out for the night. It was a crazy and great night of dancing with the locals at a club.

Day 2
Today I had a trip to the Amy Biehl Foundation for one of my classes. We were able to talk to the manager of the organization and he discussed how and where most of their donations come from. They are very creative and innovated with the ways in which they work around the system. We then visited different townships and secondary school in which they sponsor. For lunch, we went to a common area where people gather to have parties, lunch, or simply to hang out. It was a great way to get a feel of typically and daily life. We happened to be there when a soccer rally was going on for the World Cup. We learned their national song and enjoyed celebrating with local people. (we even got free stuff!) We drove by the spot where Amy was exactly killed before heading out to meet the children. Once we arrived with them we played with them for a few hours. Most split up into teams and played soccer, while the rest of us colored and painted with the kids who didn’t want to play. By the end of the day I had been colored all over my body, even all over my face. I really enjoyed this trip because I felt that everyone seemed to benefit from this experience. I truly saw the interaction between all different cultures coming together with pure fun while embracing each other’s company. The two people who work for the foundation, who were the ones that murdered Amy years ago happened to also come out to be with us. I had the opportunity to talk with one of them personally as he showed me a picture of his daughter and I simply was asking him questions. Later in the day the other one shared a bit of his life story and the power and significance this foundation had on his life. I truly respect these men who have looked passed their actions and now promote a foundation that offers security and entertainment for children. They were genuine men who have moved on and now have families of their own. Often Linda and the men travel in the States together to share their story. The day was filled with laughter and happiness when we left.
At night a few of my friends went out to have some drinks at a local restaurant that was playing live jazz to relax and debrief from the day. I couldn’t believe my life from where I was and what I was doing. My life is surreal.  

Day 3
Today a few of my friends had become good friends with a taxi driver who agreed to give us a tour of the city for a reasonable price. We decided to first head out to see the Table Mountain National Park, which is the most south one can travel in Africa. It is also where the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean met and we were able to see the two currents merging together. The drive was a beautiful as we drove along the coast and through mountainous areas. It is about an hour drive outside of the city of Cape Town and randomly we would also run into baboons randomly on the side of the road. Once we arrived to the Cape Point we had about a ten-minute hike to get to the top where the lighthouse is located. It was absolutely beautiful there. The clouds lightly covered the ocean with mountains in the background. The ocean was surrounding us. It was very serene and peaceful that words cannot describe. Even after three months on the ocean I am still amazed at the beauty that it posses as well as all that encompasses it. 
We left here and went to an ostrich farm down the street. They are the funniest animals with their long necks and weird bodies. One bit my friend’s hand! It was really funny and luckily it was not to hard that she was not hurt.
We headed then towards boulder beach, which is where you can swim and hang out with penguins. They were just hanging out underneath the boulders and in the water. This place was beautiful as well, from the color of water to the mountains on the other side. The penguins were very calm and used to interact with humans so we were able to get very close to them. They are adorable in their little tuxedos. 
Our driver the drove us to the biggest township in Cape Town. It has 400,000 people living in it. A township is where during the apartheid the government forced all the colored and blacks to live in a certain area designed for them. They gave them no structure for the homes yet most have electricity and running water. The houses are made out of tin, cardboard, or are inside of large shipping crates. Although the apartheid ended in 1994 most still live in these communities and with people that I met along the way they loved them and did not wanna leave.  Unfortunately, we were unable to get out of the car because it is unsafe for tourist to be in that area. At one point we even had a car follow us and we had to change our speed and quickly lose him. I never felt unsafe as we drove by everyone waved and smiled and were yelling “white people, white people” as we drove by. It was really interesting to drive through and see. South Africa has an extremely high wealth discrepancy and it was extremely obvious. One minute you would be in a suburban style housing and the next street you would come to shacks that were made of tin. I have never seen anything like that.
The rest of the day we went to a beautiful beach town called Camps Bay to have dinner on the beach in a little town outside of Cape Town. The sunset was gorgeous as Table Mountain reflected the color and turned a pink color from the sun. We spent the night talking and meeting all sorts of people.

Day 4
This day was spent in Stellenboch wine tasting. This day was beautiful was we drove from wine land to wine land tasting all different types from red to whit wine. The wine country was beautiful with the trees and dirt roads that we drove on. I felt as if I was in a movie with the green rows and rows of land and then would come across a stunning white building with pink or red roses surrounding them. We arrived in the winelands around 10:30 and yes I know it was a bit early to start drinking! I have never been wine tasting before as obviously I am illegal in the states to drink and I loved it. It was so much fun to try all the different wines. I learned all about how they are made and what creates the smoky taste or rich flavor. We didn’t leave the wine lands till about 4:30 as we decided to try and see as many as possible. There are hundreds of different places to go visit and we only went to five or so. When we got back I met up with one of my friends for her 21st birthday dinner on the beach and then meet up with my other friends at a reggae bar called “Mama Africa” later in the night. We had a great last night in South Africa dancing and being with each other.

Day 5
HAPPY EASTER AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!
How lucky am I that I got to spent Easter in South Africa. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a church in walking distance and in the morning couldn’t find anyone to go to church with me. However, later on the ship we had a church service so I was able to still worship and enjoy this special say. I spent the day relaxing and walking around with my friends. We had to be on the ship by four so we did not venture to far out, but ended up just staying in the waterfront listening to a live band at a restaurant. It was relaxing and really fun!

Table Mountain!

Arriving into Cape Town!

Paradise

Mauritius!

Neptune Day aka the whole ship pulled a Brittney Spears! Haha

This day has been a tradition of Semester at Sea for many years and I am honestly unsure of the history. It is the day we cross the equator. ☺ The day begins with them waking us up by a band going up and down the halls playing instruments and knocking all of our doors. Many of the faulty is dressed up as “sea gods.” The whole point is to be to be accepted into their kingdom on the ocean. In order for you to be accepted is to get “fish guts” poured over your head and then you have to kiss a fish.   
This semester we had about 50 or so people shave or cut there hair for locks of love. I SHAVED my head! I had one of my friends cut it short for locks of love and then a few other people that I knew cut or shave there head with me as well. I was a bit nervous yet at the same time very excited. As she cut off my braided ponytail and handed it to me she said “ this is going to make a little girl happy,” and with that I got tears in my eyes. However, after that I couldn’t stop and decided I had to go on and shave it off. Ha It was the weirdest feeling ever! I couldn’t believe what I was actually doing! Everyone is around and starring and cheering it was awesome. VERY surreal. Now having it been a few days it feels great! I actually don’t hate myself with no hair. The weirdest thing is showering, but its great cause it dry’s in a few minutes and takes me no time at all to get ready!  I also really like the feeling because its super soft while its also really weird to have to put sunscreen on my head too! I have truly learned that my hair does not define me and I feel more confident and free! The thing that is going to be the most fun is all the different stages as it continues to grow back. I still catch myself doing weird things cause I forget that my hair is gone. It will take awhile for me to remember that MY HAIR IS GONE!!! The day was a great as we hung out by the pool listening to music, having a BBQ and then ended with a talent show. I still can’t believe that I actually did it. I am sorry I am also not going to post any pictures because I would like to be there and see everyone reaction! ☺

India!

“True contentment is a real, even an active virtue—not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.”  - Chesterter

Our first port was Chennai, which is in the southern end on the Bay of Bengal. I fell in love with this country.  I am honestly unsure why or how because by the end of the week my feet clearly looked as though I was a different race, due to the amount of dirt on them. The first day, I did an overnight trip, for a class, to child labor bridge school. It was about two hours outside of the city of Chennai. About 40% of the children in India are in child labor, making about 2$ a month and start work at the age 4.  This was a school that was working on trying to get kids out of the work force. We were able to play with the kids most of the day and singsongs together. They were adorable. Most of the kids we saw had just gotten off work from the rock query and there hands showed it. Most of them were extremely cut up and some even missing parts of their fingers. The program is called RIDE if you would like to look up more information.
        We also went to a village called Kancheepuram. I have never seen a village that was more excited to see and greet us by their warmth and compassion. It was overwhelming, but they instantly made me feel welcome. We were able to walk around the town by ourselves just trying to communicate with the people. One woman grabbed my arm and pretty much dragged me into her home. She was ecstatic because she had a TV. (Which was a huge deal.) The only English she knew was “TV” and she kept repeating it over and over. I have never seen a women more proud of her belongings. At their local school we were able to play with the children some more. Most of the children in India spoke better English than the adults so we were able to sing songs with them. They loved practicing their English and showing us how the could count to ten. We stayed the night there and they were so gracious with the amount of food and everything they did for us.
    The next day, we headed back to the ship and this is when the true adventure begins. My friends and I had made no plans at all. We tried to book a bus or a train ticket to anywhere in Southern India, but they were all booked. All we knew was that in three days we had to be all the way across to the other side of India, in Cochin. We started by getting in a rickshaw (three wheeled motor car thingy.) The driving in India is crazy! No one follows the lines at all and everyone honks at each other. Often there is even a cow in the middle of the road and you can be waiting their for quite some time waiting for it to cross. At times I literally could reach out and touch a bus cause we were so close. We were headed to a bus station and ended up getting into an accident! Our driver got out, looked and kept going, literally nothing else. The other driver didn’t even look until a few blocks down the road. It was crazy. We found an overnight bus to Madurai. We hardly knew anything about this town except that is was often called “temple city.” The bus was scheduled to leave around 10:30 and get in around 6.  The bus was very interesting, all of us luckily got to be in the way back crammed together. I have never gotten more looks in my life as we were the only white people to be seen. The entire ten-hour ride there was a loud bally-wood movie playing, while half of the speakers were blown out, but that didn’t stop them. We decided to take the AC bus thinking since it was so hot that it would be worth it. It only cost a little more the total of this bus was about 6 American dollars.  The entire night it would go from extremely hot, like sweat dripping down your face, to extremely cold that you need a blanket. The seats in this semi-sleeper bus went extremely far back and I felt like I had the Indian man’s head in my lap. No joke. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep. I also woke up to the biggest bump on my head, most likely from bobbing my head so hard into the seat next to me. Haha
        Once we arrived in Madurai it was about 8:30 am. We were excited because we had all day to explore. We randomly picked a place to get off the bus and decided to get some breakfast and figure out our day. We ended up walking around the streets for a few hours. This may have been my favorite day, so far on the entire voyage. We walked all through the backstreets and alleys. I happened to bring with my some stickers that I began slowly handing out to the kids we passed.  Once it started we slowly began getting crowds of people wanting to see what we were giving out. I have never seen women, some as old as 60, so excited to receive a sticker. I almost felt like a celebrity walking around their streets.  They welcomed us into their homes, wanted us to eat with them, and offered us tea. Simply looking in their eyes truly told a story. I think that being in the slums made these people even more beautiful because they were full of joy. Many didn’t even know what a camera was and was so happy to get there pictures taken.  Smiling is truly the universal language. It can open up anyone’s heart to feel comfortable and warmth.
We left this afternoon and took a car about 4 hours to a town called Kumily. The drive was extremely mountainous as we drove through jungles. During the ride, we saw wild monkeys  just hanging out on the side of the road and the rural side of southern India. It was beautiful.  Our driver and his girlfriend were extremely friendly and would randomly makes stops throughout the trip and we are a bit unsure why.  When we arrived we had no hotel or any expectations of this town. We began walking around and finally met our new friend, Charlie.  He ended us spending the next two days with us and taking us all over this little town while eating just about every meal with us. The hotel we ended up staying at was called the Rainbow hotel. Our rooms were electric colors of pink and blue. Its was crazy!
      In the morning we took us to ride the ELEPHANTS!!!!!! ITS WAS AWESOME!!!! It honestly could not have been better. It was such a blast. After the elephant junction, he took us on a jungle hike. It was like a walking safari and were hunting for all different wild animals.  They have an extreme amount of wild spices such a coffee, pepper, and fruit everywhere. He would point them all out and made us try just about everything.  We spent the whole day and evening with him as he took as to all his favorite restaurants for lunch and dinner. By the end, I was becoming his sponsor to get a visa, with him trying to get a job at the Broadmoor. ☺ I have noticed that the best part about this voyage is the people and friends you met all over the world! 
We then took a bus at 3:35 A.M in the morning to our next port city Cochin. It may have been one of the scariest bus rides I have ever experienced. The bus did not have any windows and at one point we were going about 60mph on switchbacks through the jungle. I think we literally got air since the roads aren’t the best paved roads. No joke. Not to mention that it was also extremely crowded this entire time!!! I don’t think they could have fit one more person on that bus. The bus wouldn’t even stop to pick people up they would hop on as it was moving. It was quite an experience.
     We finally arrived at 9:00 a.m. We were extremely surprised we had made it all the way across southern India with little problems. The rest of the time in India I went to an SOS children Village for a project for another class I am taking. We played and hung out with the kids most of the day.
If one were to ask me how I felt right now about India I would have a hard time answering. Throughout the entire time I felt so many different emotions from pain, to sorrow, helplessness, and pure joy.  Yet at the same time, I had true sense of peace. No words can ever describe the true India, you have to experience it yourself to truly understand.  There is so much more detail that I did not expand on due to the fact that it would not give it enough justice. I can’t explain it through this setting without sounding that all there is to India is poverty or dirt. There is an immense more to India once you look past that and see the people.

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content."  Philippians 4: 11-12

(Guess what? I can sit Indian Style for the first time in 4 years!!!! Pretty sweet huh?)
NOW: Neptune Day! To shave or not to shave my head that is the question.