Bun Punches and Jai Ho Much

Stepping off the boat in India, I was ready for my life to be changed.  I didn’t know exactly how, where, or when, but I was open for anything that could possibly happen to me.  We were forewarned about India being very dirty, impoverished, and simply shocking but for some reason I didn’t have those ideas in my head once I stepped off the ship.  And it is a good thing I didn’t, because I didn’t find it to be any of the three.  Yes, it was fairly dirty but then again I live in Berkeley and worked in Oakland – a little dirt and grime every now and then doesn’t get to me.  Yes there was significant poverty, but I feel like after traveling through Africa in such a short amount of time I am desensitized to culture shock.  As soon as I got to India, I felt confident in finding a taxi driver and trying to explain in very simple English through a significant language barrier where exactly we would like to do.  So with that preface, my time in India was possibly the most life changing week, and went as follows:

Day 1: Stepped off the boat after clearing a very intense customs process, and we don’t have too many plans so a few of us decide to go shopping in Chennai (also known as Madras) where our boat docked.  In every country we are warned that women should not travel without a guy in their group, but I have traveled sans man in a few countries and have never had a problem thus far.  If I can fend off a 30 year old man trying to steal my camera in a township in South Africa I think I can figure out how to catch a cab to some markets in India (yes, I actually did stop someone from stealing my stuff with some very loud yelling and potentially an elbow to the nose.  Hey, at least I am one of the lucky few who has not been robbed while in port and it sure makes for a good story!)  So back to India, there are 4 girls – myself included – who want to go shopping in Chennai and buy some sarees.  We are immediately swarmed with drivers who are trying to get us to take their trishaws (Google image a trishaw… trust me you will love it).  One man says that he can take us around for $4 USD all day and we were sold.  So we hop in and immediately take off to the market that we are trying to go to.  Once we go about 5 minutes out of the port, our driver tells us that he wants to take us to some temples and show us around Chennai – all through very broken English.  We agree, but tell him that we want to go to the market and get sarees.  So the first location he takes us to is actually incredible, I literally can’t believe that I just hopped in the back of a trishaw in India and got to see this place.  We were at a Christian church, but it was not just any old church. 

This church is called St. Thomas’ Basilica, and is a church built over the burial cite of the Apostle Thomas.  As the very first thing I did in India – I was literally in a surreal whirlwind and could barely process just exactly what my reality was at the time.  We went into the church and saw the most gorgeous stained glass depicting the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and the Apostles positioned directly above an ornate gold and stone alter.  There were a few people in the church praying but because we were there on a Monday around 11am, there weren’t too many people there.  Then we walked to another part of the building where we had to immediately take off our shoes and cover our hair, shoulders, and legs.  Keep in mind that while all of this is going on, our driver is walking and telling us to follow him with absolutely no explanation of what exactly we are doing or where we are going.  We rush down stairs and once we get to the basement we see what looks like a mass taking place as communion was being handed out.  However, this seemed much different than any mass that I ever remember.  It was almost like a Pentecostal ceremony mixed with Catholic mass.  After about 5 minutes of feeling like I was interrupting a very private and sacred space, we went back upstairs to what was called the ‘museum’ at the Basilica.  There held a very random assortment of extremely old religious and colonial artifacts including religious sculptures, engravings, and murals from all over India and the Middle East.  There was also the story of St. Thomas as an apostle, and how this is one of three churches in the entire world that is built over the site of an Apostle’s tomb.  After about 30 minutes and sheer awe mixed with a bit of confusion, we were back in the trishaw and onto the next cite that our driver decided he wanted to take us to.  When we finally stop after about 10 minutes of driving, we see that we are outside a truly magnificent Hindu temple in the middle of a chaotic city.  The temple is constructed entirely from statues of colorful Hindu gods and goddesses.  Like almost all other ports, the juxtaposition between this magnificent holy space and the surrounding chaos and poverty was mind blowing.  We stop for about 5 minutes to relish in its beauty, take a few pictures, and then head out to go to the market that we thought we were going to go to.  As we attempted to navigate our way to a market to buy sarees, the only words our driver actually understood were “shop” and “saree”.  He said that he could take us to a store to buy a saree, and even though we protested he took us there anyways.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved India but the most frustrating part was that once we got in a rickshaw we had absolutely no control over where we went.  So we end up at this saree shop and once we walk in, we see about 3 other groups of SAS groups.  When we asked them where they were trying to go, they told us they tried to get to a different saree market but ended up at this one.  It was pretty obvious that the rickshaw drivers get a commission based on how many people they bring into stores, so once a ship with 500 Americans rolls into town they are thrilled.  After about an hour of shopping and looking around, we all buy sarees and are excited to go to the market we had been looking forward to.  When we try to explain to our driver that we went to the store so he could get commission and now wanted to go to the market, he totally ignored us and took us to more of “his friend’s shops”.  Too bad all of these stores were fancy artisan and jewelry markets because once we walked in and saw the prices, we walked right back out.  An hour of frustration passes and we decide that we probably aren’t going to make it to the market.  So instead we ask to go get some food.  Well we knew that we didn’t want to go to one of “his friend’s restaurants”, so as soon as we saw a place that looked good, we yelled at him to stop the rickshaw and we hopped out before he could say no – which he did quite often when we asked to stop somewhere.  Once we got in and sat down, the frustrations of the day washed away with the air conditioning and paneer tikka masala.  If there is one food that I had to eat for the rest of my life it would be paneer tikka masala, rice, and naan hands down.  So of course that was the very first meal that I ordered and it was one of the best meals I have ever had in my entire life.  **Harmeet – this cant even compare to all of our House of Curry runs (and we do have a lot) and if its ok with Mama Singh we will be hitting up the Rich for some homemade Indian food every weekend!**

We spent about an hour and a half in the restaurant eating non-stop, then decided to head back to the ship to shower and get ready for the SAS welcome reception.  Once we get back into our rickshaw, the driver keeps trying to take us to more and more shops but as we were cutting it pretty close on time, we had to keep yelling and protesting that we simply didn’t have enough time.  Finally, he decided that it wasn’t worth it and to just take us back.  Once we were about a mile away from the port, he pulled over and asked us to pay him then because according to him, the port officials are very corrupt and he would have to bribe them if they see how much we pay him.  Originally, we agreed on $4 USD for the entire day but once it came time to pay we tried to hand him a $5 dollar bill but he just looked at us like we were crazy.  He didn’t think that $5 was enough and tried to charge us $10.  I’m sure we looked ridiculous as 4 white girls (half in sarees) arguing with an Indian rickshaw driver on the side of the road over $6, but it was the principle of the matter that got to us.  After traveling for 2 months through some of the poorest areas in the world, we were used to being ripped off because we are white Americans and I know it may sound crazy, but I completely understand why locals do it.  However, we weren’t about to have it this time.  After taking us to so many stores, none of which we wanted to go into let alone actually purchase something, and then trying to charge us more than double of what we had originally agreed upon, there was no way we were about to pay him what he was asking.  Normally in every group that you end up with, there is always one or two people who give in and decide to pay whatever inflated prices the locals are charging, but this time was different.  I was so proud that none of us gave in and after about 15 minutes of arguing, we pay him $5 USD and get back to the ship.  Despite the frustrations and irksome moments throughout the day, it was the perfect way to start off India.  I know this perspective is not shared by all SASers, but for me at least there are no “bad” moments here.  Everything is an experience that shapes how you interact with the country and how you grow; today was no different.  I had the best time and I knew that, especially after today, I was in India.

Day 2 - 4: I woke up 3:47 to catch a 4:00am trip to Agra and Delhi.  I literally threw on clothes, grabbed my bag, and ran upstairs.  This trip was the one I was looking most forward to, and wasn’t about to miss it for anything so in the 3 minutes it took me to get out of bed and to the bus where our group was meeting, I saw that I had made it!  Luckily, I was not the only one had literally rolled out of bed in a hurry.  After a short bus ride to the airport and a very long flight, I had made it to Delhi.  There were 15 of us in my tour group, which I found to be the absolutely perfect group size.  Once we got off the plane we hopped onto a bus with our local guide who proceeded to show us around Delhi for the next few hours.  Delhi is extremely different than Chennai in the sense that it is less of an industrial city, but there is an extremely rich culture visible wherever you go.  Small shops selling everything from goat heads to used car parts line the streets as massive crowds gather around to view the goods.  As we toured in our rather ridiculously large tour bus, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.  I almost felt like we were in a zoo looking out at the city safe from any danger as we were shielded from the real India.  But I wanted the real India – I wanted to see it, experience it, immerse myself in it, and actually understand life from a different perspective.  So once we were able to get off the bus at the Jama Masjid Mosque (the largest mosque in India) I was excited to say the least.  Right away, we had to take off our shoes and get scarves to cover our shoulders and legs (even though we had sleeves on, women cant show their arms or any part of their legs).  I was able to look around the mosque and really take everything in.  The architecture was so intricate and simply beautiful.  There was a tower that we were able to climb up and Wendy, Joel, Eric, and myself decided to venture on up to the top.  From the top of the tower, we really could see the entire city of Delhi.  Houses and tin roofs stretched for miles to the horizon, the call to prayer rang throughout the city, horns constantly honked to mark just exactly how much traffic raged below us, yet it was one of the most peaceful moments I have had.  At the top of the tower, the 4 of us bonded as we took in India.  We had made it halfway across the world together, and were ready to live.

After leaving the mosque, we headed to a really classy restaurant to grab some lunch.  The fabulous thing about India is that they have SO MANY veggie options.  The even greater thing is that because most of the waiters are vegetarian, when I told them that I can’t have the chicken they were serving because I don’t eat meat they get really excited and make me a special (and EXTREMELY delicious) meal separate from the buffet that everyone was having.  For many Indians, being veggie stems from their religious beliefs so even though I have different reasons for not eating meat, they automatically like me better than everyone else!  So after another delicious lunch, we head back on the bus and tour around Delhi for a bit longer.  We can’t stay for too long because we have to head to the train station and catch a train to Agra at 6:00pm.  The train station was an experience in itself.  Here there are more beggars and impoverished families asking for a rupee just to get by for the day than I could even imagine.  Many people with defects are sent here to beg from tourists and travelers who tend to have more money.  I also had one of the saddest realizations about myself here.  There is so much poverty throughout the entire world and especially after living in Berkeley, working in Oakland, and traveling through Africa for 2 months, I realized that I am now desensitized to poverty.  This doesn’t mean that I don’t care; it just means that I am no longer shocked to see 5-year-old emaciated children missing limbs begging for spare change and food.  Honestly, I don’t know if I want to be desensitized to it but I have accepted that especially after the nature of this voyage I can’t help it.  But India is different.  Here, many children are either kidnapped or orphaned into a life on the streets where they are taken by adults who deform them in order to evoke more sympathy from tourists, which then results in more money for the adults who take it at the end of the day.  It is almost like a new form of slavery that is sweeping India, and as much as it hurts not to give children money, all of the guides tell us that if we do we are just perpetuating the system.  I don’t know how much I agree with that, but Wendy, Eric, myself and some other kids found a way to give back (which I will get to in just a bit!).

So after a 5 hour train ride we arrive in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal!  We have a very packed itinerary for the day, and after a night in a very luxurious hotel, we wake up at 5am to get ready to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise.  Despite the total of 4 hours of sleep that I had gotten from the past 3 days, I was awake and ready to go have my mind blown.  And I wasn’t let down at all.  Walking through the eastern gate, I could see the Taj peak over the great brick wall that encloses it.  As soon as I passed through the walls, the Taj was in my direct view front and center.  The beauty and splendor of the gleaming white stone walls is forever seared into my mind.  It was hands down on of the greatest sights I have ever seen in my life.  We spent about an hour walking around the grounds, venturing through the tomb (not the real one, however, just one for show) on the inside, and taking copious amounts of pictures of everything in sight.  Then it was back to the bus for breakfast at the hotel, and off to see Fatephur Sikri, a 16^th century abandoned city. 

As we arrived at Fatephur Sikri, I thought there was no way that there is anything in this world that can top the magnificence of the Taj.  I was wrong.  Immediately, I am taken aback by the stunning architectural design and splendor that the walls of the abandoned city held.  Our guide through the city told us all about Akbar the Great, the Mughal ruler who built this city in the 1500s, his three wives, 800 concubines, and all the court staff who lived in this royal city.  It was absolutely amazing to hear all about life in the court, especially their system of legal punishment.  There was a massive elephant who lived in the city amongst the people and when someone was sentenced to death they were bound at the hands and feet, placed in front of the elephant, and stomped to death.  Death by Elephant, that can’t be fun.  Even though some atrocities occurred as they do in every medieval city, the palace itself was absolutely breathtaking.  Temples were decorated with diamonds, gold, precious stones, Chinese turquoise tiles, rose petals, silks, and every other luxurious good that came to India through the Silk Road.  Of all the places I went to in Agra, this was by far my favorite.  Inside the mosque, there was a marble grated screen where I tied a string through and made a wish because according to legend, any wish that is made on the screen comes true.  Somehow, I have a feeling mine will too.

After we got back on the bus, we headed back to the hotel for yet another delicious lunch and more paneer tikka masala than I could ever dream of.  Then it was back on the bus because we were headed to Agra Fort and then the Taj once again.  Agra Fort took my by surprise and it turned out to be my second favorite place that I saw in Agra, surpassing the Taj.  This fort is hundreds of years old and was built by the same Mughal family that build the Taj and Fatephur Sikri – they had some pretty good genes to say the least.  Saying that Agra Fort is massive is putting it lightly.  It is comprised of many courts, palaces, mosques, gardens, and of course a massive moat that surrounds the entire complex.  Back in the day, they took their castles pretty seriously: if invaders were able to make it past the moat, the buckets of boiling water and boiling oil, the swarm of archers, the boulder that rolled down the hill crushing anything in its path (think: Indiana Jones), the army that stood guard, and the lions and tigers, then an invader would have to face the entire royal court comprised of over 1000 armed members.  That’s what I call home security!  It took a massive British army with cannons and guns to break this empire down, those damn Brits ruin everything. 

The palace itself was magnificently adorned with intricate architecture, marble stones, diamonds, gardens, silk tapestries, and many other precious decorations.  While it is all gone now, there are still outlines engraved in the stone walls where the decorations used to be.  The palace was absolutely incredible and rich with hundreds of years of history.  If anything has made me grateful to be a history major, it has been Semester at Sea.  There is nothing else in the entire world where I am able to learn about an empire or an event and then go see the cite where everything took place.  There is a certain aura I can feel in the air when I stand where one man conquered a peoples or where thousands have died: it is the strangest sense of connectivity I have ever felt to the past and I absolutely love it.

After touring Agra Fort for about an hour and a half, we head back to the Taj to see it at sunset.  I thought that seeing it at dawn was magical, but it held a totally different energy at dusk.  The second time I returned, it felt like years since I had last been there instead of the hours that it actually had been.  To enter the tomb, there was a line that wrapped around the entire complex so with the little time we had left, Joel, Wendy and I just sat on a bench overlooking the river that ran through the back and gazed out towards the sun setting over the hills.  This was the best sunset I have experienced in my entire life.  Before we left, Wendy and I had a mission we had to complete as a favor for Mr. Alex Kurnow: we had to shuffle in front of the Taj.  And boy did we shuffle.  Harmeet, lets just say we made Nor Cal proud.  One You Tube worthy video later, we were ready to leave the sacred city that stole our hearts.

One two hour train ride later, we were back in Delhi for the last day to explore a bit more.  Here, we stopped at Gandhi’s memorial where he was cremated and learned just how much of a difference Gandhi made for India.  Think Martin Luther King Jr. on steroids for an entire country.  That’s Gandhi.  His memorial is in prestine condition and is comprised of a garden with a black marble memorial in the center.  Everything in his memorial is centered around his Hindu philosophy; it is very open, minimal, and controlled.  When we were there, we saw an all boys’ school on a field trip, all of who were so enthralled by all the white American tourists they kept asking to take pictures with us.  We took a few pictures and then headed out to move on to our next stop.

We soon after arrived at a Hindu Temple that was unlike any building I have ever seen.  The building itself was this ornate red and gold shrine with idols of Hindu gods and goddesses positioned throughout the hall.  The level of detail on every wall and in every idol was absolutely incredible and unlike any other church or place of worship that I have ever seen.  Our guide for the trip was Hindu, and so he was able to tell us more about the religion and the customs.  After what felt like a day (it actually was pretty close to an hour) of preaching his Hindu beliefs, our guide led us back to the bus to our next stop – the Lotus Temple.

Now I wouldn’t consider myself a religious person in any sense of the word, but going to the Lotus Temple was almost like a spiritual awakening for me.  Still not religious at all, but the Baha’i Faith that the Lotus Temple houses is the closest religion I have ever found to my own personal beliefs.  From the outside, this temple dominates the horizon and is shaped in the form of a lotus flower.  It’s massive white structure and reflecting pools are nothing short of awesome.  However, I didn’t feel spiritually moved until I went inside.  I was expecting to see the normal assets of any church, but I was drastically mistaken.  The interior is simply a circle of benches.  There was no alter, no space for a priest, just a personal space for anyone of any faith to come meditate.  This is the first religious space I have ever seen in my entire life that was truly personal; it was really quite amazing to see that despite all the bad and negative in the religious realm, there is one that actually practices what it preaches.

Once we left the Lotus Temple, we headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Chennai where our boat was docked.  The trip to Agra and Delhi truly changed my life.  I saw the greatest wonders of India and of the world, and cant believe at times that I actually saw so much of India in such a little time.  Between no sleep, lots of paneer tikka masala, some serious shopping time at a local market, the Taj, Forts, Palaces, great friends, and one spiritual awakening, its safe to say that India has been the most transformative country for me thus far.  The great part is that I still had two more days in this magical country,

Day 5: I wake up after about 2 hours of sleep and head to Mahabalipuram with Wendy, Michael, and Ace.  Mahabilipuram is a series of ancient temples from the 6^th century made entirely from stone.  Oh my god they were amazing.  We get to explore about 3 temples and when we get to the 4^th, we see a bunch of kids on a field trip.  Immediately, they swarm the 4 white people and ask to take pictures with us and play with us.  This made my day.  We spent about 45 minutes playing with the kids who we found out were in middle school, taught them American songs, learned Hindu songs, took more pictures than I had taken of the Taj, and getting to experience a whole different side to India.  It was simply amazing.  There are some things in life that I can never truly explain, and this day was one of them.  If there is one day that I can look back on and say “this day changed my life entirely”, it was today and here is why:

So after we left the temples we stop at a restaurant to grab some lunch with our cap drivers Mutu and Gru.  We are talking, and Wendy tells Mutu that she has narcolepsy.  Mutu, being Hindu, tells Wendy that it is not because of her genes but because she has bad karma somewhere in her family.  Then he offers to take us to an energy reader to see where her bad karma comes from and how she can fix it.  We are all a bit curious, and agree to go.  The person he takes us to is his friend who runs a souvenir–type store.  At first, we are looking around and then Ajay, the energy reader/ storeowner, offers to read our energies.  There is this whole process where we have to lay down on a special rug as he places Singing Bowls filled with water by our heads to read our energy.  Wendy and Ace both go, and say it is the coolest thing they have ever felt.  So then I decide that I would try and as soon as I walk up to Ajay, he tells me that he can tell I am “a spiritual person.” Weird.  Especially right after my experience at Lotus Temple, I was a bit caught off guard to say the least.  So then I lay down, and he says that he can tell I meditate.  Weird again.  So he proceeds to use the singing bowls to read my karma and oh my god it was scary.  Ajay looked taken aback at first when I wake up, and tells me that my chakras are in line and have positive energy radiating.  He had said something to Wendy, Michael, and Ace, but at the time I was in a meditative state unlike any I have ever experienced before and couldn’t not hear anything that was going on around me.  I could hear that something was being said, but couldn’t distinguish what it was or mentally process it at the time.  Ajay told me that from my chakras, he could tell that I have a good relationship with my parents (hi mom and dad!) but that my throat chakra is off and once it is in line I will have a uniquely powerful energy.  Everything he was saying was so accurate there was absolutely no way he could know, which is the scariest part about it.  After hearing all this, I started crying.  It wasn’t happy or sad, but more freeing and liberating.  It takes a lot to get me to cry, but for some reason it felt so free and cleansing.  Later, I found out that Ajay told my friends that they were lucky to have me with them in India because I am a daughter of India and was Indian in my past life.  In this life, apparently I am an Indian spiritual healer and if I lived in India, would be a revered member of society as a spiritual leader.  After hearing I was in India for only one more day, he tried to convince me to stay so that he could teach me how to read karmic energies.  As much as I wanted to stay, I had to tell him that I couldn’t stay but I will return as soon as I can.  What I experienced in the store was nothing short of mystical and there are truly no words to adequately describe just how I was transformed.  Most of my life consists of moments I reflect back upon and think “wow, that was pretty incredible”.  This was an entire day filled with those moments.  There are so many things that I hope to never forget, but this is one of those that I know I will never forget.

Day 6: After the greatest 5 days in my life, I ventured out into the city one last time for some shopping, some food, and a Bollywood movie!  We had to be back on the ship relatively early, so we didn’t spend too much time in the city.  The Bollywood movie, despite being in Tamil with no English subtitles, was really cool to go watch.  We sat up in the balcony and for less than $3 were able to enjoy popcorn and a movie in India.  We didn’t really know what was going on, so by making up our own dialogue to go along with the film, we made a great movie! 

India is the country that has shaped me moreso than any other.  Every port has meant something different to me and while I love them all and can’t pick a favorite, India is the most transformative.  I know that after this voyage I will return to America an entirely different person.  India will be a major reason why that it is true.  These six days have made a lasting impression on my heart, my mind, and my soul.  No matter how much I try, there are truly no words to describe just exactly how moved I am by India.  I will carry India with me wherever I go, and hopefully one day soon will be able to return to the land that stole my heart. 

Why is the Rum Always Gone!?

Mauritius was one of the ports that initially I had no idea what to expect.  Until about a month before the voyage, I had no idea how to even pronounce the island let alone how to locate it on a map.  For those of you who are like me – it is a small island northeast of Madagascar and was used as a refueling station for the British naval fleet on their voyages to India and China.  I don’t know if I can really even count this as a culturally meaningful port stop because we were only allowed to be there for one day.  Because of the “actions of past voyages”, Semester at Sea is actually banned by the Mauritian Government for being there longer than 18 hours.  Why SAS decided to stop there was beyond me- until I got to the island that is. 

With 12 hours and no idea of what to expect, I signed up for a catamaran trip where we would go to an island about 10 miles off the coast, have a barbeque with the locals, go snorkeling, and hang out at the beach.  This sounded like the absolute perfect day trip for me!  The day before we were scheduled to dock, we hear that we will be arriving in port a night early due to a non-life threatening emergency.  Later I found out that one of the life long learners (the retirees who decide that instead of sitting at home with nothing to do, they would rather live on a ship, audit classes, and travel the world with a bunch of college students – I found my retirement plan!) had a detached retina and needed to fly to a hospital for surgery.  We were so excited to hear that we would be there an extra night, but because of the whole little governmental ban issue we had to stay on the ship.  It was torturous to eat dinner while looking out on this magnificent city (that looked much like San Diego at night) and be stuck on the ship!  So when 6:00am rolled around, we were all up and ready to go.  We got breakfast on the ship, got into our groups for the catamaran, and were off on the busses to get to the beach.  As soon as we got to the beach, I felt like I had reached paradise.  White sandy beaches, turquoise water, and blue sky stretched for miles.  It looked just like the island in Pirates of the Caribbean!  After soaking in the beauty for a couple minutes, we hopped on the catamarans and were off.  After being on a boat for a month and a half, you would think that the last thing I would want to do is hop back on another one, but these were little high powered speed boats so we cut through the water and were on the island in no time! 

Gabriel Island was absolute paradise.  There were white sand beaches, clear blue skies, turquoise blue waters, and the most gorgeous surf I have ever seen in my life!  There was a barbeque waiting for us on the beach and we couldn’t have asked for more.  I didn’t go snorkeling because of the whole broken finger thing, but I spent about half an hour just standing in the water looking out at the Indian Ocean taking in the beauty.  We had a great time on the most beautiful beach in the world and after some snorkeling, great food, and some serious relaxation we headed back to the catamaran and back to the ship.  The little time that we spent there was absolutely amazing, and I am now totally geared up and ready to take on India!

The day after we left Mauritius, there was no class because we had… SEA OLYMPICS!  Everyone is divided into 8 “seas” based on our cabins, so as a Deck 2 resident I am in the Aegean Sea.  Early on in the voyage, we had a sea meeting where I was elected one of the three Captains for our Sea.  There wasn’t that much preparation to get ready for the Olympics, but a few days prior I had sign ups for all the different events, complied the final roster, and worked to get everyone mentally psyched for some stiff competition!  Normally, I would stack all the events (which I must admit I did in some occasions…but they all paid off!), but I tried as hard as I could to turn off my brutal competitiveness and let everyone participate in the events that they wanted.  The day began at 9am with Opening Ceremonies where all the Seas were introduced, and then the games began!  The games consisted of a combination of actual sports like Volleyball (I had to stack this one… with college level volleyball players and a 6’7’’ guy on my team, who could blame me), Dodgeball, Tug –o- War, and Crab Soccer (again, stacked because we had some incredible soccer players!) along with “Minute to Win It” style games like food face, chopstick challenge, and a reverse spelling bee.  For the Olympics, I took the lead as Head Captain and didn’t compete in anything  but rather led my team to some pretty epic victories.  After an epic win in the volleyball tourney, a hard fought second place finish in the crab soccer tourney, and an amazing third place finish in the reverse spelling bee (gotta love my English majors!), we were looking decently strong.  There was some tough competition, and while we didn’t come out ahead overall, we all had a great time.  Everyone from my sea had a great time throughout the day, and retrospectively I am glad I toned down my competitiveness when making the roster because everyone was able to compete in what they wanted and enjoy the once in a lifetime events.  I am very proud to say that I made it to every single event, cheered my heart out, and was able to manage my team like a pro!  I guess all the years of sports finally paid off!

It was one of the craziest days I have had thus far on the ship!  Between 9am and 7pm I was running around the ship between events, organizing teams, and rooting for the Aegean Sea at every moment of the day.  In the Olympic Spirit, I had a Gatorade for breakfast, a Red Bull for lunch, and felt like a champion.  At the closing ceremonies, the winners were announces, we took a team photo, and my exhaustion caught up with me.  After an extremely long day in Mauritius and an even longer day at the Olympics (I didn’t sit down for 6 hours straight!) I was ready to take a shower, put on some sweat pants, and sleep.  Normally I don’t loose well, but when my team turned around, thanked me, and gave me the most massive group hug of my life it honestly felt like a victory for me (and you know it isn’t easy for me to say that given my slightly competitive nature).  For the first time that I can remember, I was able to walk away from a loss completely happy with the course of the day.  Everyone from my sea got to participate in everything they wanted, and had an absolutely amazing time doing it.  It was one of the greatest days that I have spent on the ship, and I know that if anything I walked away from a long day with great friends by my side and some wonderful lifelong memories. 

I Even Met Morgan Freeman

South Africa had the best start of any port thus far.  I woke up at 6am with my wonderful roommate Stephanie (she is not a morning person…) in order to see the sun rising over Cape Town.  It was absolutely breathtaking!  As we were pulling into port with the sun rising over Table Mountain, I knew I was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  Watching the sunrise with Steph, Alex (Harmeet, he is one after our own hearts!) and others it hit me that “oh my god I am actually here”.  The crazy thing about SAS is that sometimes your mind slips away and you forget just exactly your reality is at any given moment.  For me, this brought me back to my reality of being on a ship halfway around the world open for any adventure that may arise at any given moment.

Day 1 began with a nice 3 mile run at the gym as we docked, then I went back to my cabin and got ready for the day.  I was set to go to the !Khwa Ttu Culture Center for my anthro class.  When the time came, I hopped on the bus and headed about 30 miles outside of Cape Town, where our ship docked.  The drive was absolutely amazing, as we could see white sand beaches, tall fields of wild grasses, and of course the infamous table mountain in the background.  About an hour later, we were at the culture center and it was a completely different world.  It was just a vast expanse of land that had been turned into a tribal reserve with a few small buildings in the front.  We met our guide who was going to show us around the tribal reserve, and hopped into vans that looked like they should be giving hay rides on a pumpkin patch.  The drive, while short, was just like a mini safari!  Along the way, we saw wild ostriches, King Henrys (a type of bird that proves Jesus – or big J as I like to refer to him – has a sense of humor), and even some Springbok!  When we got to the center of the reserve, there was a small village like type structure about a mile down the path.  The village consisted of 5 huts made from branches, all facing the center of a camp.  While on a smaller scale, this is the type of village that the indigenous people of South Africa lived in even to this day.  Our guide told us all about the KhoiSan peoples (the indigenous group), how they lived, and how their hunter-gatherer way of life is being threatned today because of gaming laws.  It was absolutely mind bottling to think that people still live in such a primitive way! Crazy!  Then we learned how to speak in clicks (I found out that I am not meant to be an indigenous African woman), how to hunt like they do (yep, really not meant to), and how to make some of their crafts.  It was such a shock to hear about everything that these people have to do just to survive in such a modernized world! 

Then we got back on the bus, headed back to the ship, and got ready to go out in Cape Town!  Right next to the port is a pub and grill called Mitchell’s Pub, and it turns into SAS central every time we arrive in South Africa!  This time proved to be no different.  I met up with some friends back on the boat, and we headed out to meet everyone else at Mitchells.  The back of the picture in my room (as with all other rooms, its an SAS tradition) told me to try the nachos, Old Wobbly, and Springbok Shot there and so I went for it! Don’t worry mom and dad, not all at once… I am responsible!  The nachos were amazing!  The Old Wobbly I found is a special beer that Mitchell’s brews themselves and is famous throughout South Africa and for good reason!  Later in the night, a bunch of SAS kids decide to go to Club Fez a couple miles away and so we catch a cab and head over there.  We get there before it really starts because people in South Africa don’t really start the night until about midnight or so, but once it got going it was so much fun!  About one third of the club turned out to be SAS kids, which I found out always happens regardless of what port we are in.  All in all, it was a great night filled with amazing friends, crazy Africans, and lots and lots of dancing.  Score one for south Africa.

Day 2 began a bit later, as I had planned to go to the Aquarium with Boston Rob (his name is Rob, he is from Boston, Survivor anyone?) and his roommate John.  The wonderful thing about South Africa is that the port where we are docked looks exactly like the wharf at San Francisco, and has everything within walking distance!  It was nice to take a break from sketchy cab drivers snorting a mysterious powder while zooming 80mph down a dirt road and talking about their 2 wives – thanks for that Ghana.  So we walk through the waterfront and get some fish and chips with some South African specialty drinks.  Breakfast of champions!  We hit up the Two Oceans aquarium where they have all the sea creatures from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, because Cape Town is where the two meet!  It was amazing to see the vastly different sea life that Africa holds compared to the Pacific.  We even saw sharks!  Not great whites, but they were pretty badass nonetheless.  There were sea turtles, jellyfish, and penguins oh my!  The best part of all… I FOUND NEMO!!!  Near the exit, there was a large cylindrical display filled with clown fish and “NEMO” written across the top.  We finally did it!  The greatest part of the display was the hollowed center where you climb through a hole in the bottom and end up in the middle of all the fish!  Naturally this is designed for small children, but that didn’t stop Boston Rob or John, and while I tried to be the mother of the group, Nemo got the best of me.  While we waited our turn behind the overjoyed 5 year old foreign children with funny accents, the parents looked at us with judging eyes.  We didn’t care because we knew they were just jealous.  After a couple quick photos, we let the children resume playing with Nemo.  A life long goal had be accomplished that day and we were nothing but pride in our hearts.

On our walk back, we stopped in a local craft market and got caught up talking with a man who was selling African charms and pendants.  He was explaining the symbolism behind each charm, and it was so awesome!  There is pretty much a symbol for all of the virtues, but the one that stuck with me the most was the eternal knot.  It represents eternal knowledge, and how life is ever changing yet everything is linked.  Nope dad, its still a no.  Rob and I both loved that one and he got it made into a necklace.  John got a different symbol made into a necklace, but I decided to pass on the jewelry and leave that for the boys. 

We then headed out of the craft market and the plan was for me to head back to the ship to pick up Steph and meet back up with Boston Rob and John at Mitchell’s before we headed to the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch.  Steph and I were on our way, met up with them at Mitchell’s, but got side tracked before heading to the gardens.  Rob and John, being the sociable guys that they are, had been talking to a local named George and his girlfriend.  George was stout, round, in his late 30s, and dropped the f bomb like no one’s business.  He was pretty awesome.  He started telling us all about South Africa and how amazing it is, as if we didn’t already know that!  He bought us all a round of beers because that is what cool 30 something south Africans do for American students traveling the world. 

About an hour and a half later, we were on our way to Kirstenbosch botanical gardens.  They are right at the base of Table Mountain, and are ranked as one of the top 7 botanical gardens in the entire world.  After one minute inside, I completely know why.  Everything was lusciously green with exotic plants and garden paths as far as we could see.  After about 5 minutes of awestruck silence, we were ready to venture thru the gardens.  It was one of the most relaxing moments of my life with some of my best new friends who I feel like I have known for years.  We spent about 2 hours in the gardens, and caught a cab back to the ship.  It was yet again an absolutely amazing day with amazing friends.  But the night was still young so we went back to the ship, got some food, and then headed out to meet up with the other SASers at Mitchell’s.  This became my home away from home away from home here in South Africa as it was the meeting place for everyone, as it apparently is every year for SASers.  (Don’t worry mom and dad, I am still being responsible! I actually just finished 2, 8 page papers and a 4 pager!)  So we went to mitchell’s, met up with everyone, and then headed to Club Zula.  This club looked like it belonged in a boho NYC loft with its dark wallpaper, brick façade, and wooden floor that felt like it was about to fall through every time the crowd started jumping – which happened a lot.  They only played 90s hip hop, and there was a guy dancing right by us who looked just like Lil Wayne.  The greatest part is that he introduced himself as Weezy baby!  After a Zoolander worthy dance off between Weezy baby and my roomie Steph (who used to be in dance for many years), we called it a tie and headed to the next club, Tiger.  We met up with some more people here and had an absolutely amazing time!  After hitting up a few more, we called it a night and headed back to the ship.  It was a late night, but an absolutely amazing one.  Another perfect night filled with great music, even greater dancing, and some of the greatest friends in the world (sans CHOLA!).  Score a hard core two for South Africa.

Day 3 was one that I was most excited for: we were heading to a block party in a township.  For those who don’t know, townships are the districts where black South Africans were forced to live during apartheid.  While apartheid is now legally over, it remains very much alive in the local customs and practices.  We are some of the only white people in the entire township, but were with some locals and so everyone welcomed us with open arms into the little that they had.  We start the day off at 11am at the township center called Mzoli’s.  It is essentially an open patio with a roof, some tables, and a DJ.  On a Sunday morning in South Africa, Mzoli’s is the place to be at.  We were able to hang out with the locals, see how they lived, talk to them, and actually experience south Africa.  I cant imagine a better block party or way to spend a Sunday morning.  We all were having an absolutely amazing time, and around 3pm headed back home.  We got back to the ship, took a quick nap, and headed out to grab some dinner.  We met up again at Mitchell’s and because they were having the Rugby World Cub, stayed there that night to watch some intense rugby games with even more intense fans.  Every day gets better and better, and this day was one of the highlights of not just my week or my semester, but my life.  Score three major points for South Africa.

Day 4 started around 11am with absolutely no plans.  I meet with some friends on te ship for lunch and figure out what I am going to do.  Between my options of going to the baboon colony at Cape Point and paragliding off of Lion’s Head Peak, guess which one I chose.  So I go with Steph, Lou, and Valleria to Lion’s Head Peak where we meet up with the paragliding instructors.  Take a second a picture four late 20s, early 30s white paragliding instructors from South Africa.  They were exactly what you think of when you hear that.  So badass!  We hop out of the taxi, see them, and the first thing they say is “ladies ready to take a walk?”. We knew we were in for the time of our lives.  After about a mile and a half to two mile hike up Lion’s Head peak, we get to the spot where we set up to paraglide from.  I agree to go last, and wait my turn as I watch the first three run off the side of the mountain and fly into the clouds.  It’s my turn so I get suited up, strapped in, and take off with full force.  My instructor (it is a tandem glide) Peter is from Johannesburg in SA, has done nearly every single extreme sport, quit his corporate job to move to Cape Town for paragliding, and is one of the coolest people I have ever met.  The whole time he is pointing out different sights and telling me all about South Africa and convincing me to move there.  He didn’t need to try that hard, I was sold after the first day!  This was (until this point) the most gorgeous sight I have ever seen.  At just under a mile in the air, the sky was the bluest I have ever seen and the water was like something that I had only ever seen in the movies.  White sand beaches and green mountains surrounded us as we landed after the greatest 5 minutes I have ever spent in the air.  Needless to say after skydiving and paragliding, I am hooked on flying through the air with parachutes strapped to my back!  As Steph, Lou, Valleria and I reconnected on land, no words could sufficiently convey our emotions.  Like 4 girls would do, all we could do was jump and scream and hug.  This was simply awesome.

Naturally the only thing that could follow that was some fresh sushi!  So we ask our instructors where the greatest sushi place is near by, and head along the beach to the place called Cod Fish.  When we get there we are one of the only groups there, but don’t let that deter us from sitting along the conveyor belt that delivered sushi through the bar, just like they have in Japan!  We can pick whatever we want, and so after a few laps all settle on what to grab.  The sushi is absolutely amazing!  I never even thought that South Africa would have great sushi, but it totally makes sense!  5 plates and extremely fully bellies later, we catch a cab back to the ship and slip into a food coma nap.  We wake up, get ready, and go out for a very relaxing night.  About 20 of us go to a thai restaurant in the waterfront and have an amazing dinner, and oh my gosh it was even someone’s birthday! (wink wink!)  With some great friends, great food, and free desert, we are at the restaurant until they close at 11pm.  Then we decide to head to down the street to Mitchell’s where we order some nachos, an Old Wobbly, and call it a night. After 4 very exhausting days, we call it an early night and get ready for our last couple epic days in South Africa.  Keeping true to its epic nature, it was yet again an absolutely amazing night.  Score four epic points for South Africa.

Day 5 was off to an early 8am start as we were set to hike Table Mountain.  I was finally about to take on the beast!  7 of us were set to hike: Luke, David, Robbie, Sylive, Rosie (another Berkeley girl!  There are 8 of us here total!), and Jen were geared up and ready to go.  After a short yet squished taxi ride to the base of the mountain, we looked up at the finish line and began our ascent to the top.  Table Mountain is not like any old mountain: it is completely rock with a flat top that overlooks South Africa for miles and miles.  The hike up is extremely intensive, entirely rock, but absolutely amazing!  It was the greatest workout to burn off any excessive calories I may have piled on this week, and had a great time getting to know everyone I hiked up with even better.  At times, the rock trail is so narrow we had to walk one at a time very carefully along the edge so as to not fall off the side.  At other times, we had to use our hand and pull ourselves up the side of the rocks but once we were near the top, we could feel all of the hard work about to pay off.  Screams of joy in the distance meant that we were close, and as the trail calmed down and we neared the top, we all were anxiously climbing to see just how worth it our day was.  What I saw, I was no where near prepared for.  It was the hands down most gorgeous sight I have ever seen in my entire life, and the most accomplished I have ever felt.  For the 2 hours that I spent at the top, I was literally on top of the world.  We got lunch at the café that is at the top (I can’t even imagine building that!), and all talked about what a great time we were all having.  We then found a nice rock along the top of the mountain and Luke and I surprised everyone with two bottles of champagne (or champagna, depending on how classy you feel) to celebrate our accomplishments!  Everyone was so excited and filled with laughter when we popped the corks and the literally flew over the side of the mountain.  We toasted to a great day, amazing friends, and the greatest months of our lives. 

We took the cable car back down the side because they HIGHLY suggest that you don’t hike back down as it is quite dangerous.  Once back at the bottom, we made our way back to the ship still filled with awe.  After getting ready for our last night, we regroup and head out to Mitchell’s for our last night where they are having a KARAOKE NIGHT!  Just for SAS!  This is why this place becomes our home away from home away from home during the week in South Africa.  With some wonderful rendetions of Spice Girls, N Sync, and the American classic Brit Brit, we are all having the greatest last night!  Boston Rob was rapping, and he is actually pretty amazing!  Harmeet, he is almost on your level and with enough CHOLA hang outs, could be freestyling with you, Oscar, and C. Yenn in no time! We have an amazing last night in South Africa, and don’t want to wake up tomorrow to have to leave.  With 5 days down and one more to go, I am having the best time of my entire life.  Score five extreme points for South Africa.

Day 6 has a bittersweet beginning, knowing that it is our last day in port.  I wake up and go to the mall (it is right in port) with Rosie, Steph, and Lou for some food and shopping, but they have a power outage spanning the entire western cape!  Lame.   So in need of some food and a nap, I decide to head back to the ship.  As I do, I run into Ken, Tim, and Sara who are heading down to Cape Point to go to the beach, and invite me along with them.  That sounded absolutely perfect to me, so I quickly change and head out with them.  We catch a train (very much like BART) about 40 minutes away (think Downtown Berkeley to Daly City), hop off, and are right at the beach.  This is the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen with white sand, clear blue waters, and “SHARK ATTACK” signs posted everywhere.  This is where shark week happens! While the boys went body surfing, Sara and I stayed on the beach and watched the seals that were swimming in the ocean right beside all the swimmers!  Despite the insane winds, I was able to lay out for a bit and got my tan on.  I did put my feet in the water because by the end of this, I will be able to say that I have touched 4 Oceans!  (This was the Atlantic, the Indian is coming up in 3 days when we hit Mauritius.)  After about an hour, we catch the train and head back to the port one final time.  It was harder than I had expected to say goodbye to South Africa but I know it was only temporary because I will be heading back for sure!

Once we got back on the boat, we went straight into the Union to listen to Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak.  He came here just to talk to SAS because he loves us so much.  Listening to him speak, I couldn’t think about how much he reminded me of Rafiki from the Lion King.  He would get really quiet, laugh, and smile while he just stared at all of us all while imparting some pearls of wisdom.  He was so inspiring, and after about 30 minutes of speaking to us, we were able to talk to him. Naturally, this turned into an entire mob swarming him, but I was able to get a picture with the Tutu!  Mom, you will love it!  As he was walking past us, he put his hand on my shoulder, looked at me, and said “bless you”.  I felt so much holier after that!  Dad, its still a no.  Regardless, he was absolutely inspiring to hear speak, and his message was very basic yet very powerful: you can be the change you want to see in the world.

As if I wasn’t convinced before, my time in South Africa has only confirmed my decision to move abroad.  My new plan is to work for an NGO and move to South Africa upon graduation in May, but not before I backpack through Europe for 6 weeks.  South Africa is hands down the best 6 consecutive days of my entire life, and I can’t wait to come back for more.  There was so much I didn’t get the chance to do but I’m not worried because I know I have my whole life ahead of me, starting with Mauritius.  6 indescribable days, countless priceless moments, and the best time of my life: Score six epic life points for South Africa.

As for the title, Dad I’m sure you understand it.  If no one else does, watch Dinner for Schmucks and it will all be explained.