SPECIAL DINNER Thursday, March 24th

We had a very special treat in the form of a special dinner given to us by our dear friend Karen. While on our four-day trip in India Tom and I helped Karen keep her two kids, 9 year old C.J. and 10 year old Ryan in sight and at hand at all times. It was a little unnerving to be in such huge crowds, and difficult for one person to know where both girls were at all times. Of course we didn't expect anything in return, but thoroughly enjoyed the treat. As we have mentioned previously, special dinners are held in a separate small dining room. They begin with champagne and hot and cold hors d' oeuvres. Five courses follow: soup, salad, a pasta dish, (then a sorbet) main course and dessert. It is a welcome break from the buffet line!! Thanks Karen!!

OMG SO FAR BEHIND, BUT HERE IS VIETNAM

Let me start with a story about a new friend of ours, Annie, a 36 year old PharmD and a life-long learner.  Before we got to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) she told us the story of her family escaping from Vietnam in 1975 just 2 days before the fall.  Her uncle had made a very anti-communist documentary therefore her parents felt they might be in jeopardy.  Her dad is a physician and mom a pharmacist.  Unbeknown to them they got the last plane out to a resettlement camp in Guam.  There were the parents, Annie (the youngest) and six brothers and sisters.  After spending some time in Guam, they were sponsored and relocated to Orange County, CA where her mom worked as a domestic and her dad a gardener.  After quite some time her dad was able to get a residency in Wisconsin and pass the California Boards and start a private practice.  Several years later her mom was able to sit for the pharmacy boards and get her license to practice.  All of her siblings are either pharmacist or physicians.  So out of respect for Annie and her family we will call HCMC, Saigon.  Annie and friends Justin and Amy (mid 20's and just out of Master's degree programs) have been an integral part of the life-long learners and brought lots of creative energy to the group.  We are so thankful to have them!!!!


Saigon is a beautiful city of about 10 million people and 7 million motor bikes, which makes crossing the street very interesting.  You can't wait for a break in the traffic because there never is one, so you just start walking and the rule is not to stop, because that confuses the drivers and they might hit you.  Basically it is like a huge school of fish with lateral lines sensing everyone else.  Scarry, but it works.  In the city we found some great restaurants, in one near the war museum we had rice in a lotus leaf, spring rolls that you ate by wrapping them in basil leaves and lettuce...ummmmmm.  Also, beef in banana leaves with great spices and grilled shrimp.  Desert was bananas flambe with mango sorbet.  The ambience was wonderful as well.  We found a gourmet market that had a great selection of wines from around the world, at least 30 different varieties of cheese, serrano ham and many other types of meat as well as all types of cookies, crackers, olives, pate and other snacks.  We found a good tailor and Linda had a really nice traditional Vietnamese outfit which she will wear to the Alumni Ball next week.  At the top of the Rex Hotel, where journalist stayed during the war, we enjoyed very nice live music.   At the Golden Lotus we had a two hour massage.  Life is good!!! 


At first we were hesitant as to how we would be treated, but any hesitation quickly vanished as we met more and more delightful and helpful Vietnamese.  We had a great day on the Mekong Delta, exploring many areas.  I could not help but think how awful it must have been for both the American and Vietnamese soldiers.  It was important for me to try and visualize being on both sides and that is all I could really do as I was not there, I was lucky enough to have gone to Cuba and the Mediterranean during that time.  There were atrocities on both sides, but I can't imagine that type of fighting occur on our soil.  It is not for me to make a judgement here, all I can say from our short 5 days there is that Saigon is a beautiful prospering city and that all of the people we met were gracious, hospitable and forward thinking.  We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels and made our way through many underground areas. including, dining halls, operating rooms, planning areas, etc.  Our legs ached the next day from duck walking through the small tunnels, even though they were enlarged for tourist.  That same day we also went Cao Dai Temple a religion founded in 1926.  The headquarters are at Tay Ninh, near Saigon.  In its beliefs, Cao Dai draws upon ethical precepts from Confucianism and theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, with some influence from Catholicism.  There are some interesting readings about this religion.  I'll leave that up to you if you are so inclined.


Well that is just a brief report of our stay in Viet Nam.  We plan to return someday and rent an apartment for a month or so.  Sorry for such a late entry, but we were having too much fun!!!

SINGAPORE WEDNESDAY MARCH 16th

What a BEAUTIFUL CLEAN city! Unfortunately our first stop was the hospital. Tom needed to have some blood work done (all turned out well). The hospital sits across the street from Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Every thing was spotlessly clean and efficient. Tom had a brief consult with a doctor in order to have the blood work drawn. Results were available later in the afternoon.

From the hospital we walked into a near-by mall and made a bee line to the bakery, we miss good freshly baked bread on the ship. Other than the bakery, the mall just offered the same high-end shops we have at home, so we wandered down the streets to Chinatown. Although we will soon be in China, we found some gift items and decided to go ahead and buy them. I wish we had bought a t-shirt depicting the "crimes" in Singapore and the corresponding fines (more on this later).

We next went to the Maxwell Road Hawker Center, a Singapore open-air food court. There were over 100 stalls to choose from. We ran into Amy & Justin from the ship, and sat with them as we ate. We ducked into a coffee shop to sit out a quick rainstorm, then proceeded to the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel. This amazing engineering feat features the 370 foot long Sky Park. This is the world's largest cantilevered public platform, one hectare in area, with a 150 meter infinity pool perched upon the three fifty five story towers. From afar it looks like a huge ship perched on top of the buildings. We arrived in time to enjoy sunset and the spectacular views of the city and harbor. We enjoyed (very expensive) cocktails with shipmates nurse Randi and her husband piano player John. It was the first time we had really chatted with them, and enjoyed getting to know them better. We then enjoyed probably the best meal we have ever eaten at the rooftop restaurant Ku de Ta. In addition to the spectacular view the food and service were awesome. Our meal included pressed baby spinach with toasted sesame, crispy garlic chips and sesame dressing, baby chicken teriyaki with mustard seed crust, honey-miso glazed Australian lamb sirloin with braised fennel in spicy ginger soy, and forty flavor fried rice baked in a lotus leaf. Dessert was a mango, passionfruit, lemon and chocolate combination that can only be described as 'heavenly'.

Too soon it was time to head back to the ship. We ran into the market at the port to grab some diet sodas and double stuffed oreos. Much to our dismay, when we arrived upstairs we found a line of hundreds of people waiting to clear immigration and board their ships. It was the first time on the voyage that we shared a berth with other ships. It was only thirty five minutes to on-ship time, and we knew there was no way we would make it. Miraculously we cleared the line rather quickly, and as we reached the top of the 200 yard stretch to the ship I took my shoes off and began to run. Tom, on the other hand, laden with his camera back pack wasn't going very fast. At that point our "son" Daniel ran back and grabbed Tom's backpack. "We don't leave family behind", he said. With that help we swiped our cards with four minutes to spare. The ship ended up giving a bit of leeway, and anyone who had cleared the immigration line before on-ship time was not considered late even if they had not yet boarded the ship. In spite of this, I believe over 50 people were late and received dock time for our next port, Saigon.

Now a little about Singapore, A Fine City: a fine city to live in and a city where fines for infractions of the many rules are very high. Most fines start at $500-$1000. Infractions include littering, possessing, chewing or spitting out chewing gum, jay walking, failure to flush a public toilet and nude sunbathing, even in your own yard. A Canadian citizen was recently caned for spray painting graffiti on a train. Conviction of drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence. Because of this Singapore is very safe and orderly, with virtually no crime.

We have a very short (two day) passage to Saigon.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON INDIA

Sensory overload is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of our time in India. There are so many people, so many cows, so many scooters and taxi cabs. It is crowded and dirty, it is beautiful. Did I mention the cows?? One disadvantage of so many cows is the cow pies. One advantage of so many cows is the cow pies! They are shaped by hand (YUCK) into rings, dried in the sun, then carried on people's heads to areas where they are used as cooking fuel. The traffic in the cities is unbelievable, thousands of cars, buses, bicycles, scooters, 3-wheeled taxi cabs and bicycle rickshaws vie for the same roadways. The honking of horns NEVER stops. The colorful saris are beautiful. I saw hundreds and hundreds, all different. The beggars are everywhere, old and young, children alone and with parents. It is unthinkable but apparently true that parents sometimes maim their children in order to make them "better" beggars. We saw a six or seven year old girl begging, felt sorry for her, then saw her steal a sandwich right from the mouth of a crippled man. Survival of the fittest, I guess.

Internet cafe closing, more later.

OUR STAY IN INDIA

Day 1 We arrived in the port of Chennai, India on Sunday, March 6th. This is a working/industrial port. There were no dancers in native costume to greet us. That afternoon we transferred to the airport for our flight to Delhi. Foreign airlines still provide food and beverage service!! When we arrived at the New Delhi Ramada Plaza we were in awe of its opulence. We were greeted by a tall bearded man in full Indian dress including a turban, then a beautiful woman "lei'd" us. The lobby has marble floors, many portions are inlaid, some of the walls are onyx, there are huge chandeliers and the ceilings are painted in Italian style. Although it was late when we arrived we spent a short while enjoying a bottle of wine with friends.

Day 2 began early, the hotel provided us with a light continental breakfast before we left for the train station. It was there that we first saw the extent of VERY poor beggars, many with horrible deformities. By 6:15 a.m. we were on the Bhopal Shatabdi Express headed for Agra. Although the train served a boxed breakfast, we decided not to take a chance. We're hoping to make it through six days in India without getting sick. Once in Agra we were served yet another (delicious) breakfast. From there we traveled by bus to the Fatehpur Sikri, the beautiful well maintained ruins of an ancient city made of red sandstone. Trust me, on the highway in India you definitely want to be on a bus. No matter who has the right of way, the bus ALWAYS wins!!

We went back to a local hotel for another delicious lunch. We visited the Agra Fort, and from there we saw our first glimpse of the near-by Taj Majal. It was breath taking!! We arrived at the Taj Mahal with plenty of time for exploring and we didn't leave until after sunset. It took my breath away two more times: once when we walked through the gates and saw the Taj standing majestically before us and reflected in the pool in front, and again when we walked inside the grand building. We were transported to the train station for the ride back to Delhi, where we spent another night at the beautiful Ramada. At the train station many of us left our box diners on the bus for our driver to distribute to the hundreds of people begging outside of the bus. We opted not to give the food to the people ourselves, as we feared a stampede. (The Indian drivers and guides speak their native language and are better able to control the crowds than we are.)

Day 3 began a bit later with a tour of New Delhi, a thoroughly modern clean huge city. The beautiful green parks, mansions, and embassies are a marked contrast to the dirty crowded streets of Delhi. The beautiful buildings are left from the time of British rule. If you closed your eyes for a minute you would swear that you were looking at the Washington Mall. After another delicious lunch at the Ramada we transferred to the airport for the short flight to Varanasi.

After checking in at the Radisson Hotel we boarded bicycle/rickshaws for the most fun/frightening ride of my life. Imagine thousands of bicycles, bicycle rickshaws, three-wheeled taxis and cars sharing the same narrow road!! At one point our driver turned off of the main road onto a completely dark alley. I was sure that we were going to be robbed or killed! Fortunately it was just a short cut away from the main road. We soon reached the banks of the Ganges River where thousands were celebrating Aarti (a type of thanksgiving) at the Dasaswamedh Ghat (steps leading down to the water). There were chants and singing and a conch shell was blown.

The hotel served a delicious dinner, followed by dancing to North American music played by a D.J.

Day 4 saw us up again at the crack of dawn to witness the sunrise bathing in the Ganges. Thousands of people bathe in the river daily. Some live there, for others it is a pilgrimage from their home towns. We were at the area where young boys (some as young as five years old) begin training to become monks. We saw their morning prayers and yoga. Another tradition is the cremation of the dead, and it was common the see a jeep or car headed to the crematorium with a body on top, wrapped in gold cloth with feet & head sticking out!! This area is where the Beatles stayed, and Goldie Hawn comes here regularly to purchase her essential oils. After breakfast we toured the area and went to Deer Park where Buddha preached his first sermon. We had a dinner flight back to Chennai.

Days 5&6 we were back in Chennai where we shopped and had a nice farewell to India lunch at the Raintree Hotel. We went to a couple of malls, one very high end, the other a more "local" mall. There are beautiful clothes to be found in India.

It was an amazing experience, we hope to be back to India some day.

THE TRAIN STATION IN AGRA #2

This story takes place the same evening in the Agra train station. Nine-year old C.J. is standing next to a woman and her six year old girl who are begging for food and money. C.J. has been overwhelmed by the hoards of beggars, and being a pretty blond little girl people have been touching her all day, especially her hair. It's hard to tell how old the mom is, she just has a sad face that looks like it never smiles. In spite of wanting to be left alone C.J. asks her mom if she can give the little girl a juice box that she has saved from her box dinner for the train ride. Mom says, "O.K.", and the little girl smiles just a bit as she accepts it. We were all happy to see her open and drink the juice, as we had been told that often food gifts are taken by older men & women who send the women & children out to beg. They also confiscate any money that they are given, often beating them in the process. We rounded up another box of juice for C.J. to give to the girl. This is met with a BIG smile, she knows how good it is!! Mom is looking on, but her sad (hopeless) expression never changes. C.J., wise beyond her years and comfortable in many situations smiles at the woman, tells her that she has a beautiful daughter, and asks her name. The little girl is now playing peek-a-boo with C.J. behind her mom's sari. Suddenly, thanks to C.J., the little girl is happy for a moment knowing that she has a friend. And Mom smiles a real smile at her daughter's happiness. For a moment Mom's face is beautiful

THE TRAIN STATION IN AGRA, INDIA

This is a short story I wrote in Spanish (and received an A!!).

In the last two essays that I wrote I spoke of delicious food, beautiful places, like Stellenbosch, and fine wines. But this story is different, it is sad. I am going to write about poor people who do not have enough to eat, and about those with horrible deformities.

My story begins when we arrived at the train station in Agra early one morning. We were traveling with a group of fellow SAS voyagers, including a nine-year-old girl. Immediately many poor people came up, touching us and begging for food and money. There were two with deformities of their legs, one walked like a gorilla, the other like a crab. They looked like monsters. They walked/crawled rapidly towards us, and frightened the little girl. For this reason she was fearful of returning to the train station that night. But something good happened that changed her opinion of them. When we returned to the station the men came to us, again begging for food and money. This time, instead of turning her back on them, one woman from our group began a conversation with them. Soon two more crippled men approached. Because of this kind conversation the men slowly began to smile. I don't know if the woman gave them money or not, it doesn't matter. More importantly she gave them respect. And, seeing their smiles, the little girl was no longer afraid.

WE HAVE SOME CATCHING UP TO DO!!!

Today is Monday, March 21st, and as Dean reminded us our last post was March 3rd!! It's been a combination of really slow internet on the ship and being so busy and having sooo much fun there's no time to write. Tom still owes a story about our African safari. I have a couple of stories about our time in India, as well as the itinerary of our 4-day in-country trip which included a visit to the Taj Mahal. We are now in Saigon, which is another amazing and emotional experience.

Shipboard life continues to be a joy. We have made so many new friends among the students, faculty/staff and other life-long learners. At sea we enjoy meals together, wine tastings and talk about our last and next ports. The life long learners meet for an hour every afternoon at sea, sometimes we have speakers about upcoming ports, and we are learning Tai Chi. Afterward there is a social/cocktail hour in our adult lounge, and from there we amble down to dinner. We eat almost all of our meals on deck, the weather has been BEAUTIFUL about 95% of the time. We go to the gym every day while at sea, and I attend Zumba classes every other day. There is a constant fashion parade on board with all of the clothes and jewelry from Africa, India, and now Viet Nam.

We have an "adopted" family of about 14 students. We have treated several to a "special dinner" and have had a pizza party for a larger group of kids. We're looking forward to a Mexican fiesta in the next few days at sea. Sometimes we have a quiet pizza or burgers on the pool deck with one or two. They are all very respectful to us, and are always looking out for us on excursions while in port. When we were leaving Singapore the port was so crowded that we almost missed on-ship time (we slid our card with 4 minutes spare). We would never have made it if our "son" Daniel had not run back and grabbed Tom's back pack (risking being late himself) so that Tom could run the last 100 yards. Being late is serious, and results in "dock time" at the next port.

My other constant on board is Spanish classes, I'm taking grammar and conversational. I'm even taking all of the tests and writing all of the required papers. I think I have a good strong B.

THE PERFECT DAY

Today was without a doubt the most beautiful day we have had at sea. We crossed the equator again this afternoon. The water is the most beautiful deep blue, calm like a sheet of glass. Though we have made over twenty knots most of the day, there is hardly a sensation of movement. The fluffy clouds in the powder-blue sky reflected in the water and flying fish skimmed across the surface. We enjoyed lunch and dinner on deck, lunch with our "old" friend Joe, and dinner with our new friends Loxmi and Carolyn. Loxmi is Indian, and is a music professor on board. He knew Ravi Shankar well. After our voyage we look forward to visiting Loxmi & Carolyn at their home in Napa. If the day wasn't already perfect, at 9:30 the captain turned all of the deck lights off except for navigational lights. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and we enjoyed star gazing for nearly two hours. We started with a group of friends on a 7th deck balcony (these have no ceiling) then moved up to the 8th deck, the highest level that passengers can access. The constellations, Milky Way and shooting stars were fantastic. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!!!

WE'VE BEEN DIVERTED

This morning was not your average morning aboard the Explorer. Last night at the Captain's dinner I asked the captain if there was a special reason that we were traveling at over 27 knots, a much faster than average speed for this voyage. He replied that we had three passengers (two students and one crew member) on board who needed medical evacuation and we were en route to Diego Garcia, a British Indian Ocean Territory where the U.S. has a military base. It is apparently quite difficult to obtain clearance to go there, but somehow we managed to do so. At around 7:30 this morning we were in sight of the island. A tug and several armed small vessels and hard-bottomed inflatables came alongside and a number of Marines, Navy SEALS and a dog came aboard. We were then escorted into calmer waters in the harbor in the lee of the island. From outside deck 7 we were able to see all of the activities. After we reached the harbor a dock was lowered to the water level, one of the boats came stern to our starboard side, and the three were taken off of our ship, two walked and one was on a stretcher. Throughout this time the small boats maneuvered fore, aft, and along both sides of the ship. There were Royal Navy sailors in addition to our men. All were friendly, and several boats were happy to be given Semester at Sea t-shirts. Although we were not allowed to take any photos they were all busy taking pics of us and the ship!! This whole activity took over two hours. We hope all will be O.K. They are all being flown to Singapore, which is our next port after India, and maybe some will be able to rejoin us.

Random Thoughts on Ghana

We really had no idea what to expect in Ghana. We saw lots of extreme poverty, but people in general seemed happy and we saw no evidence of malnutrition or starvation. It is one of the more prosperous African nations. People everywhere were friendly and anxious to talk to all of us. The street vendors were very pushy, to the point where you really didn't want to buy anything from them. But, when you consider a per capita income of $1200-$1500 per year it is easy to understand their desperation. Also, we were in one of their major ports, and they are visited by only 5 or 6 cruise ships per year. From that standpoint it was hard to bargain prices down when you realized what a difference 1 or 2 dollars can make to them, or that they would wait 2 months before another ship arrived. We had a waitress cry tears of joy over a $2.00 tip.

We made several trips up and down the coast. The roads are quite good. With the exception of a few cement block houses, most were made from various combinations of sticks, mud and fronds. Cleanliness is a relative term, what appeared dirty at first glance was actually as clean as they could make it. Women were always busy sweeping the dirt in front of their homes and small businesses. In the villages we passed we saw cement block schools, but many who visited remote areas reported that some schools were more like animal pens, many were without roofs. Most people seemed to cook over open fires, and most villages had a central water pump where everyone obtained their water. The people stand tall and proud, looking elegant in their traditional dress. On Sundays most of the women wore white, and looked clean in spite of the fact that they walked for miles in dusty hot humidity. Ghana is mostly a Christian nation, and there are references to God in the names of many small businesses.

We spent 2 days in the university city of Winneba. The students treated us to various forms of African music, and were delighted when most of us got up and danced with them. Profs were educated at the masters and doctorate levels, and several studied in the U.S. In spite of the heat, people of importance wore suits or at the least freshly ironed French-cuffed shirts. One boy on the beach was even wearing an ironed shirt, the irons are heated with charcoal. Many people we spoke to in the villages desired a higher education but their parents could not afford to send them for additional schooling.

At the grocery store we were not able to find many familiar items to add to our snack stash on board, and there were no diet sodas to be found the day we shopped. While we all enjoyed our visits to the countryside, I think all were happy to return to the comforts of ship-board life.

High Winds Delay Entering Cape Town

We were supposed to be in Cape Town early Thursday morning, but because of high winds we were delayed for about 30 hours, but we made it!!  We were greeted by lots of frolicking harbor seals and a beautiful view of Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background.  Friday afternoon 9 of us headed out in a van to the Stellenbosch wine country visiting 4 wineries.  South Africa has some really nice wines.  We ended the day with a scrumptious meal in the University town of Stellenbosch.  Linda and I shared a venison carpaccio, Caesar salad, mushroom risotto with truffles, and grilled Elan (like big deer).
 Food and the company were excellent!  We got back to the ship around midnight.


Today, we were in town early doing some sightseeing, talking with folks and shopping.  We stocked up on all kinds of drinks and snacks for our next sea days including two really nice bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa.  Lunch was a skewer of crocodile, ostrich, wort hog, Kudu and homemade venison sausage, red bell peppers and dried fruit grilled with a quince-jelly sauce.  Anyway, it was really good and the crocodile was actually better than alligator.


Tomorrow we will be up at 4 a.m. to head out for a three day, two night safari at Kampara Lodge with hopes of seeing the big five - Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo and rhinoceros.  Google the lodge if you like, it is really beautiful.  


Everyone asks what our best day is and we always answer...today.

Remember the miracle is: the more you share, the more you have.


Ciao

CAPE COAST CASTLE, GHANA

This is an essay I wrote (in Spanish) for class:

Nearly everyone in the world thinks they know the horrors of slavery. However, seeing the place where their voyage of terror began gave me a very different perspective. During our visit to Ghana we visited the Cape Coast Castle. It is situated in a very beautiful place directly on the ocean. It was a perfect day, sunny with a clear blue sky. But soon our thoughts were far from the beauty of our surroundings. No, we felt the terror, the anguish, the desperation felt by those enslaved in the castle. The cells were for those who behaved badly. The number of people crowded into the cells depended upon how many people had behaved badly. They were hot, humid, and most of all DARK. Then there were the dungeons, some for men and some for women, where hundreds upon hundreds were kept. Again, they were hot, humid, and dark. About twenty feet above the ground were three very small openings which provided light and ventilation. Urine drained from a trough in the center of the rooms, and excrement piled high in troughs on each side of the rooms. The slaves were branded like cattle with hot irons in order to identify their owners. One thing I saw with much irony was a chapel directly above the dungeons!

This was just the first part of their journey to hell. When it was time to leave the castle the slaves passed through "the Door of no Return" to ships waiting to transport them to the New World. The horror of these voyages is another very sad story. Those who survived the voyage began the third part, a life of slavery at the hands of cruel masters.

WE'RE NOT IN CAPE TOWN YET

Well folks, we awoke yesterday a.m. to the beautiful sight of Cape Town, South Africa. However.... due to high winds they could not send the pilot boats out to bring us into the harbor. We have sailed around in circles for the past 24 hours. This a.m. there is not a white cap on the ocean, seas are relatively flat, and we're still circling????? For us it is a disappointment that we are missing time in beautiful S.A. (and a trip to the wine country this a.m.). For others, many had safaris leaving early this a.m., and many passengers have parents/girlfriends/boyfriends who have flown all of the way here to visit. They can stand on the docks and see us circling out here! We'll keep you posted.

Tomorrow Morning Cape Town, South Africa

It is now almost 10 p.m. here.  We have been so busy on the ship that we have neglected to post to our blog.  We have so much to report on Ghana and tomorrow we will be in Cape Town, South Africa.  Today the smooth winds have picked up and the seas are quite rough.  Tomorrow we will look around  town and in the afternoon hike up to Table Top mountain for a sunset picnic.  Sunday at 6 a.m. we head out for a short 3 day safari.  

I promise we will do better with our reporting.

Ciao

SALEM ORPHANAGE MANAUS, BRAZIL

We're going back in time a couple of weeks. We never had the time to post this, but the visit to this orphanage was a very special experience.

It was heart wrenching and heart warming. Heart wrenching because these (20 or so) children were there because their parents had died or abandoned them, or because they had been taken away from their parents for abuse/neglect or their parents' inability to care for them. Heart warming because they seemed happy, healthy, clean and well dressed and there seems to be a concerted effort to keep siblings together.

The orphanage is church run, and young Christian North Americans, (18-22 y.o.) come for extended stays to interact with the children, who range in age from 1-14 years old. When our bus load of 25 Semester at Sea students, profs and Life Long Learners arrived we were eagerly greeted by most of the children. The few who hung back at first joined in the fun by the end of our two-hour visit. The pre teen/teenage girls immediately latched onto a female and held hands for our entire visit. All of the children wanted hugs, lots of hugs!! Our students, male and female alike played with children of all ages, throwing them up in the air, playing tic-tac-toe with markers and papers we brought, playing board games and playing soccer with a soccer ball donated to them by One World Fútbol Project. They insisted on sharing with us the candy we brought for them.

My gifts of pens were not the great hit they had been in the Amazon several years ago. I guess they have sufficient pens! However, balloons were a hit for all age groups. I wish I had brought more. When they broke they tied them on their wrists as bracelets. Match box cars were the favorite of a teen age girl, go figure! Another favorite was Wooly Willy, the picture of a bald man with metal shavings that you drag up to make hair, eyebrows and a beard. Remember them??

Parents who have had their children taken away from them are allowed to visit, and one woman with six children there was visiting. She had become homeless, and cannot have her children back until she has a home. There was no mention made of a dad. Very sad.

Part of the money we paid to go on this trip was used to buy a huge duffel bag of stuffed animals for the orphanage. Too soon our visit as over. We won't forget these children, and hopefully they will have fond memories of our visit.

Ghana Arrival

We have finished our very calm trans-Atlantic crossing, having paralleled the equator in the area of the doldrums.  We have had some very good news along the way, little Tomas from Costa Rica, Nani and Teo's baby, had a surgical repair of a ventricular septal defect (a hole in the "wall" between right and left ventricles").  The surgery was on January 31st at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and he was discharged three days later. He's a tough little guy with an amazing disposition (it seems like all those named Tomas/Thomas have that trait.-lol).  Hopefully, they will head home to Costa Rica on February 15th.

We entered Ghana shortly after sunrise with fog and smoke filled air.  Once dockside we were greeted by a drum and dance group, really nice.  Everyone is anxious to head out and explore this new (to us) African country.  Linda and I are heading from Takoradi to another town where we will spend the night and next day.  Who knows what is in store for us!!
Everything on the ship continues to be exciting, interesting and completely enjoyable. 
We will report back in a few days after our return to the ship.

Ciao...Tom 

SEA OLIMPIC RESULTS

Well the Olympic torch has been extinguished and I have to report that there there was just too much youthful energy for the "OLD"  Sea Salts, but we gave it our best!! The day was so very much fun and really brought the shipboard community even closer together, if that is possible. The culmination was an aft deck BBQ followed by closing ceremonies. SO licking our wounds we graciously enter another day and steam on closer to Africa.

Many of the kids could hardly speak today.  

Our journey thus far has taken us over 6000 nautical miles into seas that are at a depth of 4800 meters.  Tonight we have our "State of the Voyage Address" and several movies including:
      Young and Restless in China
      The End of Poverty
      Heart of Gold (about Ghana)
      Amandla


We life- long learners (SEA SALTS) meet every day while cruising at 4:30.


That's all for now.  Ciao...Tom

SEA OLYMPICS

It is now Thursday, February 3rd and we are much more than halfway across the Atlantic on schedule for our Sunday arrival in Takoradi, Ghana.

Last night was the kick-off ceremony for the 104th SAS Sea Olympics!!  There were 9 teams made up of over 700 people.  The students had 7 teams representing the seven seas, faculty; staff and kids were called Luna-Sea and we, the life-long learners, were and still are the Mighty Sea Salts.  The ceremony began with the parading in of the teams in loud, raucous, competitive style.  I think all of you could probably hear us.  The first event was the presentation of each teams' banners - both visually and audibly.  We did not place in the top 3 here, but not to despair because we knew we had the the sea chant and our super secret dance to dazzle the judges.  We were surprised to be called to perform second, but we were pumped and ready!!  We began with our song written by 88 yo Betty which ended in a deafening applause and just when all thought we were finished we suddenly (well for old folks) broke into our Michael Jackson routine with six dancers (I, Tom, was one-whew) around 87 yo old Boyd "Michael" Jackson, but wait we finished with a pyramid from six of our Sea Salts with a crescendo cheer from the whole Sea Salt Community!!!  Judges score - 10, 10, 10.  The remainder of the seas were amazing with enough energy to power the ship, but in the end it was SEA SALTS #1!!!!!!

Today, we begin the Olympic events fraught with the need for technical skill, lightning-like speed, and endurance.  They include SAS basketball (like horse), spoon and ping pong ball relay, synchronized swimming (all guys for us 65-87 years old) with Boyd, 87, in his tighty-whities well above his waist and tee shirt tucked in.  By the way our colors are white.  We continue with the highly stressful and strenuous card stacking, crab soccer, 3-legged relay, dress our leader (Linda's event), and the quintessential strength requiring tug of war, our team represented by the mightiest of all - 5 women over 60.  We are the odds on favorite to win the tug of war against those pesky college kids.

Well, I had better start stretching and warming up, it could take hours.  By the way, my legs are completely bruised from all the leg clapping last night, a particularly brutal and barbaric event.

Aye me hearties, let the games begin!!!!!   

The Five Rules to Live by Aboard the M/V Explorer

Many of you have read this on Facebook, the Five Rules given by our medical team:

#1 Don't GET BIT (Dogs & monkeys carry rabies, mosquitoes carry Yellow Fever and Malara, Pirana hurt!!)

#2 Don't GET HIT (They drive on the left side of the road in many of the places we visit. Look both ways before crossing the street)

#3 Don't DO "IT" ( STD's and pregnancy. Pregnant girls/women are sent home.)

#4 Don't GET LIT (Students who break the liquor rules are likely to be sent home with refund for the unused portion of the trip or airfare home.)

#5 Don't EAT SHIT (Always wash your hands before putting them in your mouth. Do not buy food
from street vendors ANYWHERE!)

Well, someone didn't follow the rules and more than one person was bitten by a monkey in the Amazon jungle. Word is that a girl was poking it with a stick!! The real/whole story will probably come out in a few days. Luckily the rabies medication was available here in Brazil or they would have been sent home for treatment. A Brazillian doctor came aboard the ship in Macapa today and administered the injections.

Special Dining

We left Manaus, Brazil yeaterday about 5:30 in the afternoon.  We will write more tomorrow about a service visit we did to an orphanage in Manaus. 

Tonight (1-28-11) 29 of us had a special dinner. We started with Champagne and assorted canapes, fried wanton and spring rolls.  Linda and I opened a nice Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa along with a traditional Caesar salad followed by a creamy risotto with fresh vegitable threads and pesto jus.  We had an orange sorbet to cleanse the palate before the entree.  Linda had the roasted beef tenderloin rare with creamy mushroom sauce, gratin potatoes and vegitables.  I had a Priaucu filet, an amazonian fish, marinated and pan fried with a creamy butter sauce.  For desert we had cherries jubilee....ummmmm!!

We are still on the Amazon, we clear customs in Macapa and should be starting our trans Atlantic crossing heading Takoradi, Ghana tomorrow night.  For those who don't do well in foul weather, I an hoping for smooth seas.  I'll let you know.

I wish I could post pics, but the internet is slow as molasses.

Ciao....Tom 

New Friends

The ship is nearly empty today, during our five days in Manaus most people are off on various day and overnight trips into the jungle and several trips to Rio de Jainero. I'm glad we ventured into town Sunday and Monday as it has rained on and off for a good part of the day. We'll just relax and study on board today. The crew is busy cleaning and painting, the ship is immaculate inside and out. Although we were told not to expect "cruise ship" hospitality the crew are all exceptionally accommodating. The food continues to be very good and varied. We are looking forward to our first "special dinner" on Friday. These are served in a separate room with champagne, hors d' oeuvres, and a five course sit-down dinner.

During lunch on deck this afternoon we were joined by fellow Life Long Learners Betty & Boyd, who must be at least in their mid 80's. They are newlyweds of seven years. Betty is adorable in her polyester pants suits, coiffed white hair and Mac computer!! They are swimming with the dolphins tomorrow, and Betty takes her tape player on deck for daily water aerobics in the pool. She had treked in Nepal and biked/camped in the Arctic Circle in Finland. She just gave up tennis this year because, "I can't see the ball until it hits me". Yesterday they walked to the Opera House in town, quite a trek. They both communicate via e-mail and Boyd takes digital photographs and posts them on line. Hope we are doing the same in twenty five years!!

My Spanish lessons are calling.

Here's a bit of trivia about the rubber boom of the late 1800's in Manaus: some people were so wealthy not only did they buy their clothes in Europe, they sent them back to Europe to be laundered!! Wealthy women wore diamonds, their girls wore emeralds, and only the hired help wore gold.

Today, our second day in Manaus, we ventured into the city for lunch at a churrascaria and took lots of pics on the waterfront. There was much to photograph, including a sidewalk barber shop. We stocked up on sodas and snacks; once we leave Manaus we will be at sea for 10 days before arrive in Africa. (We'll be in Brazil on the Amazon for three days, but won't get off of the ship again until Ghana.) While on board the ship we spend much of our time on our balcony watching life on the Amazon pass by us. People arrive from villages all along the river to sell their goods and to shop in the city. The port is alive day and night!!! Tomorrow will be another "on our own" day. Tom hopes to find an internet cafe where he can download photos and we want to find the post office. Wednesday morning we will make a service visit to a local orphanage. I'm not quite sure what "service" we will perform, I'll let you know. Thursday afternoon we have a tour which explains the history of the rubber boom in Manaus. Early in the evening we will set sail for Africa.

We continue to meet new people daily. Tonight we talked at length with one of the waiters who was delighted that we knew his home island St Lucia. (We sailed there in 1977.) We also met some shipmates at the restaurant today, two girls who are excited about the "24-Hour Adrenalin Rush" tour they have scheduled in South Africa: cage diving with Great White Sharks and bungee jumping from a 6oo-foot bridge. (They are not telling their parents until it's over!!)

Some of you have read this on facebook, but I think it's worth repeating: yesterday as I took video of natives in a primitive canoe on the Amazon one of them took his cell phone out to take a picture of me on the ship!!

I'm putting a lot of time into studying my Spanish, hope it pays off. Classes resume Friday, we have no classes while in port.

Ciao

Sunday in Manaus, Brazil

Yesterday was Sunday and we found ourselves in the capital of Amazonia, Manaus.  I have been here before via Air Ambulance, picking a patient up from a cruise ship.  I had no idea how big this city was. Manaus has over 1.5 million people, but on Sunday very few people were out and about.  We toured the city, going to the richest and poorest sections of town and as usual the kids were the most interesting.  We also walked thru the morning fish market loaded with all kinds of creatures that were completely foreign to me. There were fish still alive jumping off the tables, fish heads and guts flying all over the place and blood draining on the floor.  It was such an interesting place...we will return in the morning.  In the banana market a vendor with a huge grin greeted us with a stalk of fresh banana, happy to see all of the kids from the SAS ship.  Later we visited the opera house built in the late 1800's during the rubber boom in Manaus when money flowed like the water in the mighty Amazon.  One of the girls performed opera at her university. I spoke with her this morning just before she was heading out to a jungle lodge.  She was hoping someone would have asked if anyone wanted to test the acoustics...she was dying to sing there.  I asked her how she liked the voyage so far and she admitted she had never been out of the USA before and they would have to dynamite her off of the ship in San Diego.  She was having the most incredible experience of her life.

Well, we are off to explore more of the city, we'll talk later.

On the Amazon

We continue to have the most incredible time on the MV Explorer.  Conversations with students and faculty are lengthy and substantial.  Just last night we spent hours speaking with 3 girls after dinner.  It was really heartwarming that they would confide in us their aspirations and fears with regard to this journey and how it has already changed their lives.  We have kind of adopted 8 kids who we see regularly, the latest we met standing in line for lunch.  Daniel was born in Kenya while his parents were missionaries and he has done mission work in both Kenya and Tanzania.  He has made friends with most of the other kids in our extended family.  We also have quite a mix of life-long learners with an array of impressive backgrounds.

Today Linda and I did a slide show of the Amazon for the young kids (4-10 years old)...lots of fun!!

Tonight there was an open mike talent show in the student union and believe it or not there were some really good performances and a few not so good, but still very entertaining.  A better than good time was had by all!!

We are still heading upstream on the Amazon making our way to Manaus arriving on Sunday, a total of almost 1000 miles from the mouth.  We have much we are looking forward to in the area of Manaus, hopefully I will be able to load some pictures from an internet cafe. 

To say this is going to be an amazing voyage would be way too much of an understatement.  We take each day as it comes with open eyes, ears and minds, ready for whatever should come our way.

I hope all is well for you guys.  Ciao

We all know that atrocities occur every minute around the world. On this SAS voyage we have been fortunate to meet some of the incredible people who choose to do something about them. We can now put names on the faces we see in the photos. 

Nepal has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. There, 90% of the population have no access to health care. They have no natural resources and the government is corrupt, chaotic and non-functional. Mothers-in-law often dictate the care of women and do not allow them to seek needed medical care for things like a breech delivery. They believe it is better for them to die so their sons can marry a stronger woman. The average income is $212/year it cost $54/year to educate a child, so the expense of education is not "wasted" on girls.

There is a very high incidence of girls (ages 8-12) being sold into slavery. They simply "disappear" from their village. Once this occurs they have a life expectancy of ~3 years, as men in India and elsewhere believe that having sex with a virgin will cure AIDS. Nine years ago Semester at Sea professor Jeffery Kottler met Inu while he was on a mountain trek in Nepal. Inu was about to "disappear". When he asked how much it would take to keep her in school he was simply told it was very, very expensive. He kept pressing the principal and quickly discovered it was $54/year which he immediately gave to the principal to ensure her education. However, a traveling companion noted that the money went into the principal's pocket and Inu would disappear unless he told both the principal and family he would be back next year. He has been back for 9 years now and Inu is the first girl in her village to attend college. She is studying radio and television communications, on full scholarship, in Thailand. His organization, Empower Nepali Girls, has had great success in keeping girls in school, even so girls still disappear. You can find out more at www.EmpowerNepaliGirls.org

Dominica

We have spent two days on the West Indian island of Dominica. Tom traveled here previously (in 1968) aboard the Blaze with Ed Lewis, and Tom & I sailed here in 1977 during our month-long trip with "Unk", J.W. & John Scott aboard the Vulcan. (We later purchased the Vulcan from Unk and lived aboard for about four years and cruised the Bahamas for six months.) Since our last visit Dominica has made much headway in eco-tourism. The people are very friendly and tourist oriented. The highlight of our two-day stay here was a seven-hour tour which first took us to the Emerald Pool and Waterfall. A short hike through the forest brought us to this pristine site. Some enjoyed a swim, but the water was much too cold for we Floridians!! Next we stopped at the Carib Indian Reserve where we spent several hours learning of their life and culture and sampling many delicacies prepared for us by the villagers. A former chief and his wife were our guides. We watched a girl make baskets, a man extracted juice from sugarcane with a press hand carved with a machete, and we sampled many of the fruits which they grow. The village worked hard to prepare a feast of typical dishes including cassava bread with guava jelly, boiled and fried taro, curried salt fish, a typical cheese bread, and coconut ginger candy. The Carib are considered "second-class" citizens in Dominica (as opposed to the Afro-Dominicans), and face many challenges. But they have many modern conveniences including internet and cell phones. Living conditions are simple, including outside showers and cooking over open fire in addition to gas burners. They do have refrigeration and electricity. They grow and use many medicinal herbs with limited use of traditional medicine. We thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with these proud, hard-working people.

Heading to the Amazon Tonight

We will be leaving Dominica shortly. We made a short but exciting stop with all sorts of memories from visits in 1968 and 1977. Linda is writing more about this visit. I posted pics on gallery.me.com/reidttj, but they may not be labeled (not sure why). There are some older posts there as well.

Linda made a recent post,mistakenly, under the comments of "We're at sea". Look for them if you like.

We are heading out shortly for the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil. Once there we will head 1000 miles west, up the Amazon, to Manaus.

All is well here as I hope it is where you are.

Ciao...Tom

Our Journey has Begun!!

I'm using 15 minute increments of internet time at a coffee shop, so I will make short entries.

We left Nassau Wednesday Jan. 12th and arrived in Dominica Sunday, January 16th.

I guess I'll begin with our ship, the M/V Explorer, ship's registry Nassau, Bahamas: she is a beauty!! At 598 feet, in addition to the usual pool, restaurants, bars/lounges, gym and shops that a cruise ship has there is a library, computer lab, student union, and classrooms.

What a cool campus.

The day is ending, but not before we have had some really meaningful round table discussions with a number of students.  We were introduced to Andrew, a 2002 alumnus, who did a presentation on his NGO aiding the child soldiers of Uganda.  Afterwords, our group of 14 met to discuss the book Three Cups of Tea and how we may draw on his life experiences during our journey.  I was really amazed by how they listened to us and each other and the incredible insight and openness regarding their fears and expectations.  Each and every one of them had some significant input and all expressed the fact they have had so much to be thankful for in their lives, but are unsure of how they will handle the exposure to kids unable to get an education or dying from hunger or waterborne illnesses due to contaminated drinking water.  One girl had even done medical missions in Guatemala, Rwanda and one other country before leaving high school.  Another girl from Japan was worried that she would not be the same person after this experience.

One thing everyone is sure of... their lives will change after this voyage.

We are at sea!!!

Just a quick note letting you know that we are enroute to Dominica and will arrive on Sunday.  The seas were a little rough last night so a few were a little green around the gills. This afternoon the seas died down and everyone seem in better shape.  We have met some nice young adults (kids) who seem very interested in us and what we are doing here.

The internet has been very slow when we can get on so no pics to load now.  However you can go to semesteratsea.org and click on read current voyage blog.

Classes start tomorrow!!!

Ciao

We are on the MV Explorer!!

We left early this morning, 4:30, for the Ft. Lauderdale Airport in dense fog and found the airport shut down.  Luckily, we departed on time, but en-route the captain announced that the airport in Nassau was closed down because of fog, however we did land! Interestingly there was a couple on our flight we knew from Marathon.  We are on the ship now and it is beautiful and our room is the best we have ever had on a ship.  We have already met some interesting people.  Tonight there was a reception for the parents of the students who will board tomorrow.  Judging from many discussions we are so grateful for the opportunity to embark on this adventure and equally excited to see the metamorphosis of the students as we learn about and engage with different cultures around the world.

Tomorrow we plan to head into town to and get some groceries for the trip.  We leave for Dominica at 5:00 p.m.

Still unpacking, catch you tomorrow.

Notable Lecturers and Guests

I wonder who our guest will be? Previously SAS has had the following:

Fidel Castro (Cuban President)

Anwar Sadat (Egyptian President)

Indira Gandhi (Indian Prime Minister)

Mikhall Gorbachev (USSR President)

Corazon Aquino (President of the Philippines)

SHRM King Mohamed VI ( King of Morocco)

HRH Moulay Rachid (Prince of Morocco)

Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Laureate)

Mother Teresa (Nobel Laureate)

Nelson Mandela (First President of South Africa, Nobel Laureate)

Arthur C. Clark (Author of 2001: A Space Odyssey)

Pete Peterson (First U.S. Ambassador to Viet Nam)

C.H. Tung (first Chief Executive of Hong Kong after end of British colonial rule)

Wow, quite an impressive list!! We are very excited about our guest.

Semester at Sea: Where and Who

It looks like a well represented group of students, lifelong learners, faculty and staff.  Listed below are some demographics:

Confirmed students                              605
Student gender ratio                              women 66%, men 34%
Lifelong learners (us)                            54
Faculty                                                   40
Staff                                                       37
Schools represented                             250
International Students                          36
Ethnicity                                                28% non-caucasian
Top 5 majors                                        business, psychology, communications, biology and political science

                                                    
It seems we have all of our ducks in a row.  The missing pieces of the puzzle are our passports, which are supposed to get into our hot, trembling hands tomorrow.  Nothing like cutting it close!!

This is our ship, the MV Explorer.  She was built in 2002 by the well respected Blohm & Voss shipbuilders of Germany.  She is described by Maritime Telecommunications Network "as one of the safest ships afloat.  The U.S. and international health and safety ratings are in the 99th percentile.  She is one of the fastest passenger ships of its kind in the world.


MV Explorer Data:


Tonnage                        25,000 tons
Length                           590 ft. (180 m)
Beam                              84 ft. (26 m)
Draft                               24 ft. (7 m)
Max Cruising Speed      28 knots
Stabilizers                      yes
Air Conditioning            yes
Outside Deck Space       30,000 sq. ft. 
Passenger Decks           6
Pool Area                       7,500 sq. ft. 
Swimming Pool             1
The Union                      380 seats
Dining Hall Deck 5         470 seats
Dining Hall Deck 6         210 seats
Outside Dining (6)         110 seats
Faculty Lounge             138 seats
Classrooms                    9
Piano Bar                       104 seats
Passenger Capacity       836

Packed and Ready to GO!!!

We are all packed and ready to go.  We just got our last meds to prevent malaria, but we still do not have our passports/visas.  However, knowing that 2011 will be a great year, we are confident they will arrive before Tuesday the 11th.


Linda works 4 days this week and then the adventure begins.  We are soooo excited about each and every port as well as the time on the ship meeting new friends, exercising, and attending classes.  My goal is to return with an even better appreciation of different cultures, to share life experiences and to lose 15-20 more pounds.


Had a great dinner tonight with nephew Rob.  Spending time with Rob is always includes enjoyable conversation.

Happy New Year 2011

We had a really  great time at the First Night celebration in downtown Delray Beach.  The avenue was closed down, a huge Christmas tree by the "Old School", lots of families and friends enjoying the entertainment at various areas, sidewalk cafe's buzzing with expectations for the New Year and the joy of seeing so many people seemingly happy for the treasure of life.  After enjoying the truly impressive Celtic dance family (they will be at Bush Gardens for 3 weeks) and a great band in the Old School Theater, we wandered down to the tennis center.


In the tennis center there was a band playing on the stage and lots of families enjoying the festivities on center court.  Rather than a ball and typical of South Florida, but really cool, a Mercedes Benz was lowered by a crane to ring in the New Year.  Midnight was sealed with a wonderful kiss from the love of my life.  A spectacular fireworks show ensued and as those ended over 50,000 ping pong balls were shot into the air, falling like snow on everyone on center court.


The New Year started amazingly well and we hope it did for all of you as well.  It is going to be a great year!!!!

A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL