Malaysia

March 22, 2008: Saturday (second to last day in Malaysia)

Wow guys, you should be proud of me for writing in this blog right in the middle of being in port—this doesn't happen often lol... Ok, where to start... In Malaysia, we cannot dock right at the dock and have to anchor in the harbor, which means that we have to tender in the lifeboats to get to shore. On the very first day, Tricia and I talked about how much we wanted to go inside the lifeboats, and we got our chance. We waited around in the Union to leave on our tender for the Malaysian village (kampung) homestay, which took forever. We finally left and man, is Georgetown really nice! We're technically staying on the island/in the state of Penang, and the port in which we are, well, porting, is Georgetown (Malaysia, believe it or not, was once a British colony, hence the name...). I couldn't believe how clean everything was compared to India. Literally, the city is in much better shape than Atlanta. I didn't see a single beggar on my first day—it was SUCH a nice break from India, and in my opinion thus far, Malaysia and India are opposites: in India, the people were so amazing and friendly, and I think the people in Malaysia are really nice but I feel kind of indifferent toward them, to be honest... and India was super dirty, polluted, and trashy (I am pretty darn sure that "trash can" was quite literally not in their vocabulary), and Malaysia (at least Georgetown/Penang) is well-kept, clean, and 99% beggar-free... the disparity between the two countries is crazy (but also kind of welcome... India was pretty rough). Anyway, we took a 1 hour bus ride over some beautiful mountains to get to our kampung, Jalan Bharu in Balik Pulau (pulau means "island" in Malay), and all of a sudden we were in lush, beautiful rainforest with tons of palm trees everywhere... I never would have thought that Malaysia would be so jaw-droppingly (I know it's not a word... deal with it) beautiful, and it makes me wonder why more people who can afford to go halfway around the world go there. I personally wouldn't stay very long in Penang if I came back just because there isn't a whole lot to do (in India, there is a ton of stuff to do!), but Teneya said something about taking a two-decker bus from here to Singapore someday for only 80 ringgits (about $27, and that's inclusive of a place to sleep, food, movies, etc... wow) and I would totally come back just to do that... Anyway, we got to the kampung and it was clear that they've done this before: they had commercially-made banners of welcome hanging up and whatnot, but that's fine... We had a quick snack and a welcome speech (these guys loved to give speeches... it was adorable) and then got introduced to our families. My "sister" was a nice girl named Stephanie, and our mom's name was Mariam. Everyone in the kampung is Muslim (well, for the most part), so all the women wore veils, which was cool. Random fact: the Muslim girls put on their veils for the first time at age 7. Anyway, our mom was so cute and sweet and we got driven the .01 miles to her house because it was raining (flash flooding... just like at home, but the rain was so nice and warm), and her house was comfortable and quaint—all the villager's houses have tin roofs and a vented border along the top of the inside rooms to let the air move freely throughout the house (it gets super hot and would feel like an oven otherwise—they enjoy 90% humidity here—Mom, I want you to come here so you will know that Georgia humidity is nothing)... We got served some more food, which was lunch, and consisted of: some really good vegetables in hot sauce, whole squid (brains, organs, and all... ick), some fried rice, and some other sort of seafood... Because both Stephanie and I took the squid, we felt like we had to eat it, and we took one bite and just couldn't do any more... It was gross and kind of awful, but we didn't want to offend our mom, so we did it anyway. After that, we went upstairs to our cute little room for a nap but 5 minutes later had to get up to do a communal thing in the gathering area, where we played some traditional games like the rock game (you basically throw up some little stones and try to get them all to land on the back of your hand—it's hard), spinning tops, and mancala (which I thought was an African game...). We also watched the local women make these AWESOME little crunchy cookies, which was a really cool process. I forgot to mention that our homestay house had a Western toilet (yay!!!), which was a luxury—no squatty potties! As our mom didn't speak much English, she and her husband sat us down to watch their satellite tv and put on the scary movie channel that was in English—it was funny that they thought that we would like it just because it was in English. We also got to meet their daughter, Su, who is 22 and goes to college and is studying accounting. She is by far the most liberal Muslim I've ever met—she doesn't wear the veil unless she is going to school, has a boyfriend of her own choice, wears skinny jeans and Coach shoes, and prays whenever, rather than the standard 5 times a day. She's really tall and skinny and she knew a good deal of English. She has two cell phones for some weird reason, and she originally told us that she has two boyfriends (and we believed her), and only told us two days later that she was only kidding lol... Oh, I forgot to mention that on the way to the kampung, I was reflecting with a girl named Melodi about how I think it's kind of a shame that we always go to countries that usually speak a little bit of English, and the signs are often in English, etc... I like being challenged and I was kind of disappointed that we keep going to former English colonies. So, I got my wish to be challenged language-wise during the homestay because our mom spoke very little English, so it was awesome to mime things out, and I'm very glad I had Stephanie because when I didn't understand what mom was trying to say, she understood, and vice versa. It was cool to work together and it was more meaningful to get what our mom was saying because we worked for the answer. I enjoyed that very much. Anyway, we later went back to the communal area after a nice nap and yet another snack of these little cakes and Milo hot chocolate for dinner and a cultural show. The dinner was pretty good, and we had to eat with our hands (I'm ready to start using utensils again... I'm not a very big fan of eating with my hand, but it's ok because it's a cool experience nonetheless), but it did consist of fish, and I absolutely hate fish... I wound up eating a whole lot of fish over the course of the 3 days we were there and I of course had to eat it because I didn't want to offend my dear mom—it was a funny situation. Anyway, the cultural show was adorable: the children put on dance and singing shows and their form of dancing is very beautiful and graceful, and kind of reminded me of Greek dancing. When I studied folk dancing at school, we learned that dance pace varies in different climates, so when it's hotter, they move slower (think hula) and when it's cooler, they move faster (think riverdancing or Irish stuff), and I noticed this to be true—they move a lot slower. We got to perform with them later, and I went up and had a very good time. Oh, I forgot to mention that we went to an herb farm and saw pineapples, mango trees, and lots of herbs, naturally. It was surrounded by lots and lots of tall palm trees, and the clouds were dark and stormy, so it made for a beautiful scene. It rained some more later... Oh, I also forgot to mention that our mom had us wear her nice satin outfits (local dress—it is a lot like an Indian punjabi suit, which is a more conservative outfit than a sari, in that it covers your whole arms and legs) and later wound up giving them to us! That night, I got bitten up pretty badly by the mosquitoes and got kind of freaked out because I have a kind of weird fear of getting bugs in my ears, and the mosquitoes would buzz around my ears, which prompted me to crawl under the hot covers and cover my head... I could still hear them through the covers and was paranoid enough to think that they were inside my covers and would occasionally shake them out... It was kind of miserable lol. Day two of the homestay: fried egg, fried rice, and doughnuts (these people don't eat healthily), ran to the goat farm to get there with everyone else (got to hold the cutest little 3 week old baby goat... it was sooo soft and made the cutest little sounds I've ever heard), went to an ostrich farm (those guys can be vicious... ), went to a tiny batik factory, about died in the heat in my t-shirt and jeans (but had to wear that stuff because it's a Muslim area and we can't offend them by showing our shoulders and anything above the knee...), had to eats lots of fish (ick!), had lunch at stinky fisherman's village (where they served every Malaysian's favorite drink, apparently, which is basically watered-down cough syrup... they love their stuff super sweet to the point of being disgusting...) and a very small group of us got invited to go on one of the fisherman's boats for a short ride to an oyster farm, where we walked over the water on very thin planks (I had my camera on me—eek!) and where we saw a cuttlefish in a bucket (they change colors to adjust to their environment for camouflage and they kind of shimmer... it looks cool... and they squirt ink if you bother them enough, which was cool to see, and they get darker and darker if you poke them enough lol), went to beach to play games and no one wanted to because it was in the middle of the day and therefore oppressively hot (plus we were all wearing lots of clothes because we have to because of the Muslim influence), saw rice paddy fields that were flooded over, got back spasms and have yet to find a chiropractor, our mom did our laundry (aww!), gave us two shirts each, and gave us each a new head veil thing (our theory is that she only gave us them because she thought we weren't covered up enough), wore them out to go to Night Market (candies, food—including chicken feet and hearts—urgh, cheap toys, groceries, cheap clothes), watched a scary movie on the tv, got fed even more snacks (one of which included these crunchy, itty-bitty WHOLE fish on top of rice... I had to eat it, and it was awful... they had the heads and tails on and everything lol), then went to bed. Day three: woke up, had our mom's famous rice dish that was really good, went to the communal area to receive our gifts that they made us (paper cup peacocks with little golden "eggs" of soap inside, two random shirts each, a mug with pickled fruits in it, etc), mom gave us tons of snack cake things and a little egg caddy with a hard-boiled egg in it (kinda weird but adorable nonetheless), left on the bus, got back to the ship, showered, and left with Melodi to walk around Penang. Visited a Chinese ancestral temple thing that's being restored and covered in gold and they were nice enough to give us a tour, walked along some more and saw another Chinese temple with the biggest incense sticks I've ever seen burning outside of it, walked through Little India and got major nostalgia (I miss India), finally made it to the internet cafe we'd been looking after having Kickapoo's Joy Juice (a citrus soda that tasted just like Mellow Yellow) and a watermelon slice, went grocery shopping at the 7-11 next door to the internet cafe while waiting for two computers to open up, I bought crispy M & Ms (you're jealous) and lots of other yummy snack foods, went on the internet for 3 hours and uploaded some photos on Facebook (it cost me $3 total... wow), went to a super cheap and very tasty Indian restaurant and had the BEST Indian food I'd ever had (tandoori chicken with cheese naan... oooohhhh my goodness sooo good) and a yummy Milo (hot chocolate mix) ice blended drink, walked back to the ship and went to bed... Next day (yesterday), slept in (yay!), watched P.S. I Love You with Teneya (worst movie ever), finally went out in Penang with her, Catherine, and this girl named Lauren (I think?), went to Little India where I bought another sari (this one's for Jess—you're gonna love it, gorgeous!) and bought a funny hat for Dad (and jangle bangles for my feet, which I wore for the rest of the day), started raining and Teneya and Lauren left and Catherine and I took a taxi to the mall, where I got a haircut and the most amazing head massage for $9 total (including the tip, and I was being generous!), went to Starbucks (which was in all honesty pretty nice to have), bought a camera battery charger (yay!), and splurged on myself at the Body Shop ($43 on mascara, a microdermabrasion face wash, and lip butter lol) and it felt AWESOME to treat myself (I'm still excited about it), and bought myself some itty-bitty hair clips (bows!) to put in my hair, yay!... then, walked in the rain a little ways to get a taxi, and went back to the ship. Today: slept in, intended to meet everyone else at the internet cafe but they weren't there, went on internet for a long time and they still didn't show up, so I found a taxi, went to the Eastern and Orient hotel on my own, and sat down for afternoon tea! :-) Some SAS lifelong learners/staff were there, too, and saw that I was alone and invited me to join them, so I did. It was really fun and very yummy. I had jasmine tea—my favorite! :-) Then, I walked around the grounds of this British colonial era gem of a hotel for a while, and then set off toward the ship for an approximately 20 minute long stroll... I came across a park with a playground and enjoyed watching the children play with kites (it was about to storm and it was really windy... I love it right before it storms!) and took some pictures. I felt perfectly safe walking around on my own—I never would have expected to feel safer in a foreign country on my own than I would in, say, Atlanta, or some other US city, and it was very refreshing to just be on my own. I very much enjoyed it and felt revived because of it. I hope that someday I won't be afraid to go out on my own, and I hope that I will learn this on my trip (employing, of course, common sense and trusting my instincts... remember that this was my last day there and I had plenty of time to assess the situation... I saw 4 beggars the entire time I was here, which was amazing)... I just still feel like I'm not travel savvy as much as I'd like to be yet, which is kind of disappointing. I also want to leave more room for spontaneity, because that easily makes for the best experiences. I really wish that I had known that you could do stuff independently and not only through SAS because I want to do more things on my own. At the very least, this is the beginner's course to traveling for me—you have to start somewhere. Then, I got to hear the coolest story from Caitlin about her experience, and that's exactly the kind of experience I would like to have. Anyway, tons of people went to KL (Kuala Lumpur), and I'm glad that I didn't. I've decided that I have next to no desire to come back to Malaysia unless someone successfully convinces me to come along with them—I wasn't too impressed at all, to be honest. It's a shame, too, because I thought that Malaysia sounded amazing. Oh well. Ok, time for bed! Much love to you all!

Michelle

A Whole New World <3>

Yay India!

I didn't get more internet minutes until after India! I'm so proud of myself!

Love you guys.

Michelle

March 6, 2008: Day 43

Today was pretty darn good. The past two days since I updated have been good, too, but I woke up in a bad mood the day after we set sail—no surprise there, it happens to everyone after leaving port because no one wants to leave (and be back to being cooped up on the ship with everyone else again). Anyway, like I said, today was good. I had breakfast with C-Money, which was yummy as usual (blueberry bagels, mmm!), and went to Global Studies. It was soooo good today! We first had a play put on by some students concerning the lack of females in India thanks to the preference of males (and therefore the illegal practice of sex-selected abortions and female infanticide) for the following reasons: only sons can set fire to the funeral pyre, which is the best possible transition into the next life after death; daughter's families have to pay dowry to their future husbands (dowry is now illegal but continues to be practiced—in fact, many women are killed by their husbands of brother-in-laws [or father-in-laws... can't remember] when they can't pay even more dowry even after they are married!), which, obviously, costs money that a lot of families cannot afford; and daughters are simply a burden in general. Because of this, there are many "bachelor villages" in which all men live who never got wives because they could not afford to take care of them and because single women are scarce: sometimes it's as bad as 700 women per 1,000 men... because of the majority of men, these single men have committed more crimes and picked up lots of bad habits like alcoholism and smoking... it is estimated that 40-60 million of India's women are missing thanks to abortions and infanticide. There are laws against using ultrasounds to find out the sex of the baby and getting female abortions, but they're not enforced as strictly as they need to be (because it's difficult to prevent doctors with easily-carried ultrasound machines from going anywhere they want because the machines are so portable, etc.)... Anyway, it was a very enlightening presentation and I had no idea until today that female infanticide and male preference was going on in India. It's a horrible thing and has to stop—it will be the end of them if it continues, and it is expected to... Reminds me of the movie "Children of Men," except these people have the choice to make things right again... That's the sad part. This is an issue that makes me angry because I disagree with anything that is what I consider "playing God," as in, goes against the natural flow of life. I'm all about natural. Aaaanyway, we also had one of our professors tell us a true story, which was relatively interesting (at any rate, a nice change from past presentations)... We're due to get our grades back soon, which will be curved, so who knows—maybe I'll get a C this time??? lol that's so pathetic that everyone's been doing so horribly on the tests, and it's because those who make the tests suck at composing them: the questions each time have been worded vaguely and unfairly, which can easily be confusing. Anyway, then I went to lunch and then Drawing class, where we YET AGAIN drew a tree... this woman treats the class as if it will go on forever, when we have 13 more days of class left, which is ridiculous. It would be ridiculous in a normal semester, let alone an SAS semester in which we have a whopping 23 days of class. Whatever, I'll humor her. I have my real drawing class to look forward to at home in the fall. Anyway, after that, I hung out with Teneya and Catherine in their room and we watched really old episodes of Gilmore Girls (the episodes from when I used to watch it... back when I watched TV), and I must say that I'm getting hooked again. Caitlin stopped by and we talked about what we're doing in Malaysia, and they're going to Terengganu indy together and once I get back from my homestay I'm going to fly there ASAP and stay a night or two before we have to go back to leave for our next port, Vietnam. I'm really excited about it because the flights were at one point $60 roundtrip (they're now double that, ick) and the rooms we'll be staying in in a hostel (never been in one before!) are $3 a night! It's super cheap in Malaysia, yay! Lots of really good shopping it sounds like, too! It's going to be fun, I'm super excited about Malaysia and I wish we had more time there... Anyway, after we kicked off planning for that, we all went to dinner where we had fettucine alfredo (eeek!! One of my favorite pasta dishes!!!) and, by the way, for lunch we had Taco Day, yay!!! What a good day as far as food goes! Then, I put my photos onto my computer (by the way, I'm an idiot and left my charger in Mauritius and so now my only hope is that they'll send it home so I will have it when I get back... I got lucky enough that the AV room had an extra charger I can borrow until I get a new one), which was great—I got a ton of great photos when we were in Mauritius. Oh, before I forget—all you amigos of mine out there, the DVDs in Vietnam are going to be super cheap, so if you want anything, lemme know I will get it for you. Anyway, then I called Nicoley and barely got to talk to her because she had to go :-(, and then called Eric because I missed him terribly after hearing Caitlin play Citizen Cope (they seriously should be best friends because the two of them have so much in common... I can't wait for them to meet) and it was good to talk to him... Then, I hung out with Caitlin and we talked and showed each other our pictures from Mauritius. When I was looking through them I realized how lucky I am to have such good friends here on the ship, even if I sometimes feel like I'd rather have my friends from home around instead. They're great and I'm sure we'll remain friends after this trip. Anyway, Caitlin showed me her vast collection of music and I kept saying, "Oh my goodness, Rose would totally love this," and "Oh my gosh, you like the Weepies too?! Alex freakin loves them!" and "Mary loves Regina Spektor, that's so cool you do, too!"lol Caitlin's music is her obsession, it makes her so happy. She's giving me a whole bunch of it eventually, which is awesome because she has the world's largest collection of chill music ever and I loooove chill music. It was awesome hanging out with her, and now that we have a time change, I'm sitting here writing to you at 1:15 am, yay! I'm super tired so I'm out. Much love!!!

Michelle

P.S. Alex: While in Mauritius, we stopped at an ATM on the way to our little inn and while there, I first heard one of the Tarzan songs you put on my cd over the nearby supermarket's PA system, and RIGHT after that, they played Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World"—I was so excited about it!!! It made me think of you, and it was kind of like you were saying "don't forget about me," even though I hadn't ;-) It was such a cool coincidence though... Muah!!!

March 7, 2008

Today was a really good day. I slept in til 12 pm (!), didn't go to Global Studies, yaaaayyy, and woke up, did some homework, went to lunch with Brittany... we had sherbet for dessert, which is a major commodity, so that was exciting... it's so funny how little things like taco day and sherbet for meals literally make my day because they're such a commodity... Anyway, then I went to Transcendentalism, where we discussed our reading from the Bhagavad Gita, which was about meditation and detachment. I disagree with the Bhagavad Gita and Hindu thought for this reason: they believe that in order to reach perfection, one must become detached from all things—feel no excitement with good fortune, nor depression with bad fortune; love all people just as much as you love your family; have no desire for earthly things... these things are humanly impossible and I therefore do not agree with it—perfection, I have found from personal experience, is a terrible thing to be expected to achieve. I could not handle the pressure of it, and as a result, renounced my Christian beliefs (for example) and I now feel so free from the pain and depression I got from trying to be perfect... It's a bad idea. Cute, in theory, but not good for real life because this is real life and real life's not perfect. Anyway, it's always a good thing to see different perspectives and I respect what they have to say concerning the matter, but I have no desire to renounce what I grew up learning to live a life of solidarity and freedom from emotions... in all honesty it sounds boring. Anyway, we had a very good discussion about that, and I enjoyed it as always, and then I went back to my room to do some more homework before my next class, the dreaded Art and Architecture. I watched about 10 minutes of Gilmore Girls with Misses Tenae-nae and Catherine, and went to class. It was droll as usual, but we learned a little bit about Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram, the latter of which I will be visiting in India (excitement!!!!!) while doing Art of Living. By the way, both Brittany and Brady are going to be doing Art of Living with me, which is very exciting! It's going to be so amazing... Anyway, I then went over to Caitlin's to do my drawing homework and then we went to dinner, where we had cream puffs for dessert!!!! The dining hall has been so kind and generous to us lately!!! I then went to the sea meeting, which was concerning what we are going to be doing tomorrow during the Sea Olympics, which we are going to win!!!!! If we win, we get to be first off of the ship in Miami!!! I'd honestly rather get 2^nd place because if we do, we get some extra internet minutes (besides, I'm sure I wouldn't want to say goodbye right away to my ship friends anyway)... Then, I went to my room and then went right back out again for one of the community colleges going on tonight: tying saris. It was very interesting and I cannot WAIT to buy a whole bunch of them!!!! I didn't realize how many different styles there are; it's going to be interesting deciding what to buy. Then, I hung out in my room and I watched Big Fish for the second time and still couldn't bring myself to like it as much as I feel I should. Then, I called Sir Alex, which was awesome, and enjoyed very much talking to him for about 5 minutes, and now here I am, writing to you guys! Tricia and I are ready for bed, so off I go!

Much Love,

Michelle

March 8, 2008: Day 45—Sea Olympics!

Ok. Here's the lowdown on what went on today, but before I do that, let me take this moment to complain about my lovely neighbor's raucous behavior last night when I was trying to sleep: they had people over and they were playing cards and "Oooohhh"-ing quite loudly and banging against the wall until 1:30 am, even after I called to ask them to be quiet (and called again later but they didn't pick up... jerks). I am quite dissatisfied with them and have talked to them about it and I sincerely hope that it doesn't happen again because if it does, I will call the security guy, because that's just rude. I don't care that we are on friendly terms—that is so incredibly rude... one of the things that gets me so angry that I could kick someone in the shin is when they are noisy when I am trying to sleep. Anyway, as for today and the Sea Olympics: Caitlin and I got up for breakfast and then put on our purple and Adriatic Sea war paint and went to the Union to show our team spirit at 9 am. That was fun—I really enjoyed hearing everyone's chants and seeing their routines. Everyone did such a good job today—I was so impressed. We had events like Hawaiian bowling (whatever that is), board games like Scrabble (I'm so sad I didn't get to do it), a scavenger hunt, mashed potato sculpting (Caitlin was in that... I would never do that, it's such a nasty idea to me), synchronized swimming (it was sooo awesome—everyone did such a good job, and lots of them were really funny! Our sea did the Little Miss Sunshine end routine to "Superfreak"), musical chairs, slippery Twister, and lots of others, including lip synch (Teneya was in it... she was so adorable), which was basically "shake-what-your-mama-gave-you" hour lol, but it was fun to watch. I had originally tried to sign up for the cool stuff but didn't get anything, so when we had another round of signing up for events, I simply didn't sign up for anything, so I had a nice leisurely day to myself to recoop and watch events as I pleased, which was very nice. I sunbathed for about an hour because I am so sick of getting sunburnt while in port (the sad thing about being on the ship is one never goes outside for extended amounts of time unless one is tanning or eating outside, and eating outside is not enough sun compared to the amount of artificial light one gets each day on the Explorer), and I wound up getting very badly sunburnt on my legs, and my eyelids, which is weird... I've never been burnt on my eyelids. I look like I have crazy eyeshadow on. Anyway, that really sucks but I'm an idiot and forgot that we're on the Equator today (and the sun is therefore much more intense than any other latitude in the world), so that was very bad timing, and I am in lots of pain because of it. I got coerced into doing the swim suit relay, which is the worst event EVER, but I felt bad for the girl who couldn't do it because she had an ear infection, so I did it anyway, but here's what it involves: you have a team of 6 and you have to put on super huge, wet clothing and swim to one end of the pool and back, take off the clothes, give them to someone else on your team to put on, and repeat until everyone has gone. We most definitely did not win that round, which was partially my fault thanks to my wanting to dive all the time (we're not allowed to because the pool's so shallow that we could get hurt)—thank you, swim team—so I had to do it yet again, which is so incredibly exhausting the first time one does that, let alone the second! I don't know how people swim with clothes on because it is almost 100% impossible. After lip synch, the Sea order was announced, and we got 7^th place (my favorite number!), and the sea that won was the Baltic. I was so sure that the Aegean Sea would win, because they were awesome at EVERYTHING, I swear, but they got third. So, it was a really fun day, and I topped it off with Gilmore Girls with Teneya after toying with the thought of going to the dance party, but none of my friends were there and I was too tired to dance with random people, so that was good... I went through missing a lot of people today and random times, thanks to various songs, or other little things that remind me of my favorite people back home. I miss you guys so much. I daydream about seeing you all again all the time. Well, I am terribly sleep-deprived, so I need to go to bed. Much love to you all,

Michelle :-)

March 9, 2008: Day 46

Today was pretty cool... I slept in through breakfast and went to Global Studies (reluctantly :-P) with Caitlin and the first part of it was pretty cool, but the second part was about temple restoration (something that has almost nothing to do with what we're going to be experiencing in India—that was something I was so sure we'd be concentrating on in Global Studies before I came to the ship... it's weird we don't) and we learned all these weird terms for the lapses of time, which was confusing and seemed out of context. It was the most random Global Studies presentation we've had yet. Tis cool, though; no big deal... A random thought: I'm I'm grateful that at the very least they don't send people down to knock on our doors for Global Studies (it's a mandatory class) and they can treat us like adults enough to trust that we will come if we are able... I also think that the crew (the waiters, the cabin stewards, the Purser's Desk people, the people in the spa, etc) are totally and completely AWESOME and aaaallllways friendly and happy to help. It's refreshing for sure. On to another subject... I took a quick nap and then a shower and went to lunch, and afterwards went to my pretty much favorite class, Transcendentalism and Eastern Thought, where we talked about what we're going to do in India (it sounds like people are doing some really cool things, like mongoose versus snake fights and going to religious festivals, etc... count on the awesome people in that class to do cool things like that) and discussed meditation and the benefits/downsides of it, and our homework is to practice meditation—something I will be doing for three straight days while in India! I'm so incredibly ready for India—I'm ready for life-changing experiences, and becoming a new person and shedding my old me, and getting out there and actually getting one-on-one time with the locals (something I have been wanting to do and been trying to do this whole time). I'm still planning on getting my nose pierced, if safe and sanitary, and I want to get some extensive henna done on my body, which will look beautiful I am sure (I'm officially a huge fan of henna tattoos)... I'm very excited about buying fabrics and saris, as well, because what I have seen is extremely beautiful, and I really like the idea of wearing the native clothing in the countries we will be visiting. It seems so exotic :-) Tonight Caitlin and I had a really good, long conversation, which I enjoyed, and I also had a 25-minute massage (which was way too short :-P), which was sooo nice, and tonight we had the Mr. SAS pageant, and our Chinese student, Chi, won. It was very funny to see/hear the contestants' "talent" and responses to questions, so it was a very entertaining evening, to say the least. We had to lose a half an hour tonight (strange...), so I have less sleep to look forward to than usual, so it's off to bed for me! I love you guys so much and please know that I'm whining about all the ridiculous things going on on the ship because they are real issues and not because I just like to complain. Xoxoxo!

Michelle :-D

March 10, 2008: Day 47

Today was pretty easygoing... I went to Global Studies, which was about the political aspect of India (which is important—I enjoy learning important things that are relevant to what we will be experiencing in Global Studies), and took a nap before going to drawing class, where we drew a model (one of the lifelong learners) using different marks, which was pretty fun but also kind of overwhelming because there is much more detail in a human subject than in a tree or bush landscape... I dread having to do a self-portrait for the final project because drawing human figures is so difficult for me. Anyway, I then hung out with Caitlin as she packed for the Taj trip she's going on (I'm sooooo jealous... she also gets to go to Varanasi, which is the most sacred city on the Ganges, which is itself the most scared river to the Indians, and watch them do their daily bathing, as well as dispose of the dead and cremated in the river—hence it is the most dirty river in the world... Legend has it that if you die in Varanasi you get out of the cycle of reincarnation and go to the Hindu's version of nirvana or heaven so lots of people go there to die), and her, Catherine, and I went to one of the classrooms for the second world religions discussion, where we had our new academic Dean Ehnbom (who, sadly, is conceited and sometimes condescending because it's quite apparent that he thinks he knows everything because of his education) talk to us about Hinduism, which was a dry presentation, and then Sam, one of the anthropology professors, talked to us about the much more interesting aspects of Hinduism, like why cows are sacred. Ever wondered why? I have, too. Reason: the Indo-Europeans brought over the glorified vision of the Western cowboy and the Indians took that vision of ultimate manliness and somehow respect cattle so much that they are sacred and not to be killed. Hindus used to be beef eaters before this time. The irony of them being sacred, however, is that they don't get treated as wonderfully as you'd expect, and they apparently roam the streets, and when cattle are no longer producers, their owners can only set them out into the wild (because it's the ultimate taboo to kill them)... They slap them around in the markets when they get crafty and lift some food from the vendors "like they do their own children," said matter-of-factly by Sam, which was pretty funny... It was a very good discussion and I loved learning more about Hinduism. I also learned that the Vedas, their religious text, is actually not meant to be written down because it is an oral tradition and once written down, it becomes dead because you can't hear the rhythmic syllables spoken aloud etc. It is so important to memorize the Vedas, as the Brahmins (highest caste, composed of priests) must do and they have been doing it for centuries—you can have one Brahmin from the south and one from the north (two completely different cultures, apparently) of India and they will both cite it exactly the same, syllable to syllable. I found that so fascinating. I then went to dinner, which was unexciting, and to Dipika, one of our interport students's Bollywood dance demonstration/lesson, and tried doing the stuff but felt ridiculous shaking my hips in front of people and stopped, and then went to the Union for our mandatory pre-port, which was both entertaining and very informative, as usual, and now I'm here in my room, packing last-minute for my Art of Living, and I'm completely lost as to what I should pack, as I have to cover up lots of my body, but I'm going to be doing yoga, which requires comfortable clothing (an ankle-length skirt would not be appropriate for such an occasion...). I cannot wait for getting my nose pierced, getting henna done, lots and lots of shopping, life-changing experiences, learning how to manage stress and learn how to live in Art of Living lol, and much, much more... I hope I learn soooo much. I'm so ready for this. Bring it on, India!!!

Michelle

March 11, 2008: Day 48—Art of Living Day 1

I woke up with Caitlin at 6 am to watch the sunrise, but it was rather disappointing because there was only a small splash of pink that managed to get through the muggy, smoggy, icky morning weather. It was pretty warm already. The smell as we arrived in port was a very interesting one (I mention this because everyone seems to say something about the smell of India), but not awful (yet) as people have made it out to be: it was a combination of burning charcoal with ship's lubricating oil—it was a very strong smell but not as unpleasant as everyone makes sure to mention (of course, I haven't been into Chennai yet, so I guess that's where the smell gets nasty when combined with human wastes... urgh). We went through more bureaucracy for customs and whatnot to get off the ship here in Chennai than we have in any other port, which involved waiting in line to get papers signed and stamped. I then grabbed my stuff, the sweet little Indian red rose I was given by the hospitality desk, and headed off with some friends and friendly acquaintances (I was fortunate enough to know lots of people on this trip) to Mamallapuram area for Art of Living, which was about a one hour drive. We went to Mamallapuram to see ancient temples and Hindu monuments like the Five Rahas and the Descent of the Ganges (you should look up pictures on the internet)... I think the Shore Temple that we saw was Buddhist, though, because it had a lying Buddha hidden in a crevasse. At the Shore Temple, we climbed on top of an elephant (I wouldn't have done it if I didn't see an Indian do the same exact thing) and took pictures on it, which was fun... We enjoyed the experience of getting attacked by the street hackers (both adults and very young children shared the same intense, desperate pleads to us to buy their products—it was saddening to see a young girl follow one of the group all the way up to the bus's steps yelling, "Just one dollar! One dollar!!!"), and those Indian hackers just won't take no for an answer, unless you have no money whatsoever, and at that point they would ask you for your watch... One guy came up to me with a booklet which was essentially the Kama Sutra and shoved it in my face, which was awkward and embarrassing, and tried to tell me that I could learn from it, at which point I laughed and ran away from him. That was quite a hilarious experience. Another wonderful incident was after I bought a tasty coconut to drink: I was running late for the bus and a boy of about 14 offered to give me about a 20 second ride on his motorcycle/scooter to get to it before it left, and it was so much fun!!! He then sold me 2 moonstone pendants for $6 later because he caught up with us at our next stop and wouldn't leave me alone... I plan on turning them into earrings—they're quite beautiful. I got to know him a little bit, and his name is Dilip. He told us about some temples that were on the other side of one of the stops we made, and Brady, Julie, and I wandered over there, so that was nice of him. The Indians are the most friendly, smiling, warm, and helpful people I have come across so far (even a little more than the South Africans!)—if you give them a smile, they can't help but smile back. It's so sweet. Anyway, Dilip asked me for something from America to remember me and my friends by, but I didn't have anything on me that I could give him—I would have loved to give him something if I could have. I forgot to mention that before we left Chennai, we visited a modern Hindu temple that is like a great big pyramid with plaster figures covering the entire outer surface, which are each brightly and elaborately painted. We had to take off our shoes and were charged for the use of a camera, which I did not pay because I didn't have any rupees yet! Sadness! A random thing I find interesting about this country: no matter what age or body type (which doesn't vary much, honestly—they're all mostly short and slender, but some are pretty chubby), the women here wear traditional saris (which consist of a "blouse," which is basically a tank top that shows off the belly; pants or a petticoat; and the sari itself, which is the fabric they wrap around themselves) and they all look beautiful no matter what. I think that's so awesome. As a whole, they are so healthy because most Indians are vegetarians and they radiate because of it. Of course, their healthcare is appalling and they have a very low chance of getting the medications they may need, but as far as their diet goes (when they can eat), it is quite healthy. As for Art of Living, we are staying at Dakshina Chitra Heritage village, which is a representation/collection of the different Southern Indian types of abodes in it and is wonderful to see. They have cultural activities during the day, so of course, it is a school field trip hotspot. We saw tons of children of varying ages up to high school, all with different uniforms. The younger children wear regular-looking uniforms, but the high school women we saw all wore the same saris. Anyway, our (me, Summer, and Julie's) room smells strongly of mothballs and lacks any towels whatsoever. The weather was terribly humid but at the same time, much more bearable than I had expected—it felt a lot like summer in Georgia, except perhaps even more humid. When we arrived, we were greeted by two women in true saris who applied the red kum-kum paste to each of our foreheads and sprinkled water on us, all the while with beaming smiles on their faces. It was a wonderful welcome. We checked in to our rooms, and, thank goodness, we have Western toilets, rather than the dreaded squatty potties. I finally tried the whole non-Western toilet situation and it wasn't that bad, but I still prefer our way :-P... Then, we had a quick but delicious snack of samosas and coconuts with their tops freshly chopped off by menacing-looking machetes, and we then went to our first (of many more) Art of Living class. We learned how to control our breathing. We then had a traditional South Indian vegetarian meal, which was surprisingly satisfying (I'm so used to always being hungry after only having veggies for a meal—it's because we don't use spices!) and we ate off of banana leaves and we all awkwardly tried to eat with our right hands (it's rude/taboo to use/eat with your left hand because that's reserved for use in the bathroom, grossly enough), which was entertaining. It has become very apparent to me that all Indian food is going to look totally unappetizing, but it usually tastes pretty good. It's funny how that works out—seems kind of counterintuitive. The meal was pretty good, but not the type of meal I would want to have all the time because the textures and flavors are unfamiliar (not necessarily unpleasant) to me, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless. We then went outside to hear a 54 year-old single (that's very unusual) Indian woman tell us traditional Hindu mythology stories, which were so amazing to listen to—I've always loved mythology and this was no exception. She then allowed us to ask any questions we wanted to about the culture and she firmly believes in the adage, "Whatever is true in India, the opposite is also true." For example, there are lots of arranged marriages, but there are also some marriages based on love, and there is even the occasional elopement. Well, I got bitten by HUGE bugbites on my back and the Benadryl I took is starting to kick in and make me sleepy, so it's off to bed for me! Much love,

Michelle

March 16, 2008: Day 53—India... a Place of Serious Contrasts

Wow. We're already a day over halfway through... It's unbelievable. I feel like I'm in this time warp where I am looking forward to coming home but at the same time I want to see the entire world. I also keep thinking it's still winter, and it's not, lol... Even now, when I go to type the date, I still think it's February... Anyway, here's a little revelation I had a couple of days ago and it's funny that I didn't realize it until now: "holy cow" comes from the Indians revering the cow (by the way, they revere cattle because they are nurturing because they provide milk, and anything that is nurturing is revered—that's the fifth theory I've heard on it, I swear, and the irony is that women are nurturing in that respect and should therefore be revered, and they are in Hinduism, but wives and women are treated like dirt in Indian society)... Also, "until the cows come home" comes from observation of Indian culture as well (the Indians set their cows free everyday to fend for themselves food-wise and they come home every night like a dog would)... Funny stuff. As for my second day in India, I will try to remember as much as I can—I've been slacking off on my journaling because I simply haven't felt like it. It's a good thing I have today off to catch up on sleep and do all the things I need to do (such as update this and write my 2 papers)... We woke up at 6:30, had some hot chocolate, and did about 15 minutes of yoga and then concentrated on breathing exercises and meditation (Art of Living was pretty much that entirely, with barely any yoga), then had breakfast, did more of Art of Living (it definitely has a major cult following... not my kind of thing) where we did Sudarshan Kriya. This is basically a breathing exercise you do in three different paces for a long time (like 30 minutes or so) until you pass out, essentially... It's supposed to cleanse your body/mind/soul and renew you, but I just thought it was awful and it didn't help me at all, even though I put 100% effort into it like they kept telling us to: my hands and feet got numb and I was tingly and lightheaded and I absolutely hate that sensation so it made me very mad while we were doing it... and after we laid down, I slept but didn't have the half awake/half asleep sensation some other people had... We then had a very delicious Indian lunch, and for dessert, something soooo good: for short, it's called Jamun, and it's these little round balls of fried dough suspended in this hot sugar syrup that was amazing! I bought 3 or 4 bags of the mix so I can make it at home, so be prepared to have some because it's awesome. We then had some free time and had a tour of Dakshina Chitra, which I walked away from after a while because a lady was doing intricate henna designs on people's hands for only a few cents more than a dollar, which is amazing, so I got some on my left arm. It's beautiful—one thing I've learned is that Indians absolutely love two things: peacocks and jasmine—and mine looks like a peacock. It's so beautiful. I then met a bunch of young men and their professors from an education college, and they were so nice. They did the typical Indian man thing to me and told me I was beautiful (I looked like crap... I was dripping sweat in my basketball shorts and t-shirt lol) and tried to get me to come home with them, which was so annoying and I made it clear that I had no intention of doing that whatsoever... Ugh. Anyway, it was fun to talk to the professor, though, who was very respectful and kind, and he told me how to care for my henna, and asked me questions about America (he is an English professor, so I imagine he wanted to test his English to make sure that it is truly correct, because apparently they teach English but it's not always entirely grammatically sound) and how I liked India. I then wandered around with Julie and we came across these students who were freshmen at the Chennai fashion design institute who were drawing there for a day trip—they were soo nice and showed us some popular music and wrote it down as well so we could go buy it, and asked if I was on Facebook (to which I replied with a shriek of delight, lol, and probably threw them off a bit haha), and talked about where they were from and stuff. Apparently their school only chooses 30 students out of the ENTIRE country (let me remind you that they have over a billion people in their country) per year through interviews and crap like that... I was very impressed. I ran into two girls from that group later on at a mall and it was cool that I happened to because Chennai is a ridiculously over populated city... Anyway, that night we did some more Sudarshan Kriya, to my dismay, and then had a nice dinner... Next day, I was positively sick of doing Art of Living (three days is way too long, but the original program is actually 6 days, so they had to condense it for us) and we did Surdarshan Kriya YET AGAIN and this time I was so annoyed at having to do it so much that I just pretended I was doing it... We got lots of life talks during this trip, too, which I don't remember hearing much at all because the guy who taught us had a heavy accent, so it was hard to understand him, so after a while I just spaced out, and the accent is so musical and soothing that I pretty much fell half asleep most of the time when he talked to us lol... Overall, it was a good experience and I don't mind that I did it (and I don't feel like it was a waste of time), mainly because I got a good view/idea of the South Indian culture, but I was sure as heck glad to go back to the ship. I really enjoyed wandering around barefoot the whole time, though (lots if Indians walk around barefoot), but it was funny because I absolutely hate having dirty feet, so I felt gross the whole time, but the desire to be barefoot just barely outweighed the desire to have clean feet... I got some shopping done and got some beautiful pashmina scarves (one for me and one for who knows?) and some super cheap but very beautiful bangles and earrings... Anyway, on Friday (March 14^th—the day after we got back from Art of Living), I skipped the Indian college and home visit SAS trip I bought because I really wanted to go shopping, and one guy was on it that I dislike, and it was a very small group (I knew he would latch onto me, and I wasn't willing to put up with it from 8:30 am-7:00 pm... ick), and wound up going with Brittany and Melodi, who were both on Art of Living with me. Oh, I forgot to mention: at Art of Living, we each had to say what we liked about it to the instructor (I had to make up stuff haha), and one girl mentioned that she has cystic fibrosis, and it helped with her breathing... It struck me through the heart to hear her say this—to know that there is a dying person on our ship just makes me so sad. I mean, I know she won't pass away for a few years, probably, but it killed me—it made me aware of how much more grateful I should be than I already am to be alive and not feel like my clock was ticking until I died. It didn't seem like anyone else in our group realized what cystic fibrosis is, and for me, it was like time stood still for a while... I talked to her casually later that night and she seemed like she was happy (I didn't ask her about it)—she must be so grateful to be able to go on SAS. I truly wish her the best—like I said, it made me sad and woke me up to reality more, too. Anyway, the next day, we all went to T. Nagar, which is this shabby-looking market-type of place that just has nasty plastic toys and stupid super-cheap stuff like that... We didn't stay there long, but I did buy some Indian cds and Bollywood movies (some for $1 each—crazy, huh?), and we then went to Spencer's Plaza, which was much better: it's basically an indoor mall/market where you can haggle for a good price. It's soooo huge—bigger than any shopping mall I've ever seen. Oh my goodness, before I forget, I absolutely MUST tell you about the head bobble that South Indians do (cutest thing—and most confusing/bizarre—you've ever seen): they wobble it from side to side in a way that kind of looks like a nod or head shake, but it has many different meanings: it's a moment filler; they use it to acknowledge that they are listening; they mean it like "sure" or "whatever works"; or, they just do it to fill time/space when interacting with people. It's so cute. I will have to show it to you guys when I get home, but I know I will really miss seeing it because it's so darling. Anyway, at Spencer's Plaza, I bought a TON of good stuff for a very good price (I had the best shopping experiences in India... I cannot wait to show you all everything I got, because I'm proud of the good prices I got them... For example, I got a huge cashmere/silk blend blanket for $25), aaaand!!!!: I got my nose pierced there, too, in a jeweler's shop!!! Had I not gotten the 14 karat gold ring (simply because when I have gotten my ears pierced, they're very sensitive at first and I'm not allergic to gold) and gotten the regular nose studs, I would have only paid 150 rupees, which is almost $4 for a nose piercing as well as the stud, which is awesome... However, I wound up paying about $40, which is pretty much how much I would have paid in the US. It was so exciting: I was very scared (I don't do voluntary pain very well) and shied away from the guy two or three times before I spaced out and let him do it... It hurt pretty badly, and two days later, it's still swollen and pretty sore, but it looks cool (minus the fact that it's a gold color, which I don't like). I got a beautiful iridescent teensy nose stud for a month from now when I can take out the earring (they literally used an earring on my nose and pierced it just like you would an ear), and it's very tasteful and small. I like it a lot and can't wait to put it in—I only paid 25 rupees for it, which is about 60 cents, lol! In America, I would have paid at the very least $5... Anyway, we went to lunch and I had fresh lime juice, which was sooooo good!!!! I also had a very delicious pineapple sundae, yummy! Our auto-rickshaw driver (auto-rickshaws are three-wheeled little car-like vehicles that are super cheap—for example, about $2 to drive 45 minutes through traffic—and the drivers drive like maniacs and stop within inches of cars and scooters in front of them... it was an AWESOME experience!!! :-D), Madu, has driven SAS students before, and was very sweet and talkative, and had an arsenal of animated sounds and arm movements to tell us his funny little stories... He also spent a lot of time looking back at us to tell us these stories while still driving (Mom, I wish I could see your face right now :-P...), which was interesting... The amazing thing about Indian's appalling driving habits is that I did not witness a single accident. I'm starting to wonder if American caution is what causes our accidents—being hesitant isn't a good thing... Don't worry guys, I won't come home and drive like an Indian, I promise... Anyway, he took us to a bunch of shops we didn't want to go to, but whatever... That night, I went to try to see a Bollywood film with Catherine, Brady, our Malaysian interport student and Brady's temporary roommate, Nor, and Melodi—they had no Bollywood films showing, only American ones, which was a major bummer because I really wanted to see one in theaters... But, we wound up seeing 10,000 BC, which was suuuuuuuchhhhhh a good movie!!!! I absolutely love movies like that (it was made by the Day After Tomorrow director, if that gives you an idea what it was like— and it was really intense and had lots of battle scenes, and I must admit that I really enjoy the cheesy motivational music and pre-battle speeches)... Even though it was American, it was so much better to see it there than back at home, because everyone made hilarious comments (sometimes in Tamil, the language of Tamil Nadu, the state in which Chennai is located, and sometimes in English, but they did things like oooh and ahhh and boo and stuff like that), which added to the entertainment, and Indians have an intermission! I have never experienced an intermission in a movie theater, so that was new—and the sad thing is, I sat in literally the very closest seat to the wall, and there is hardly any room in between rows, so you have to climb over people and stick your butt in their faces in order to get in or out if they're still sitting, and as I didn't know there was an intermission and I had to go to the bathroom very badly, I wound up going 15 minutes before intermission... I swear the people in my row hated me for that haha... Oh well. I would very much like to own 10,000 BC, so hopefully I will remember to buy it when it comes out. The next day, after having 4 ½ hours of sleep (when in port, there is no time for sleep, I swear), I had the privilege of going on a service project through SAS to a K-12 school in the poorest part of Chennai... Brittany was on it, so she and I taught some 3^rd graders math and science, which was wonderful. The reception as we walked up made me feel more welcome than I have ever felt: there are drawings on the thresholds that the Indians make out of rice paste in beautiful designs to welcome people in (they make them everyday) and keep out the Evil Eye, whatever that is, and theirs was colorful and bright, rather than the usual white, which was cute... They had a bunch of the kids play their instruments for us as we entered the building, and there were some more, younger kids who were in the background waving the Indian flag and yelling "Welcome" and "Hello", and we each got a small, beautiful rose, a streak of orange on our foreheads, a big, colorful necklace-type thing, and water sprinkled on us. It was so amazing that I kept tearing up. It was so beautiful, and something about it was so overwhelming in a very good way—the kind of way that makes your heart swell a few sizes :-) ... I had fun teaching the little kids, but man, were they rowdy: even before you finished writing a problem up on the board, they would all stand up, thrust their hands into the air, and yell as loudly as they could, "Oooh! Oohh!!! Miss!!! Miss!!!" and would often come all the way up to the front of the room up to us and declare to us what the answer was... it was hilarious. Also kind of annoying. But cute. The teacher was so nice and asked for my email address, because her daughter is in college, too, and she might want to email me, which is awesome... A lot of the other teachers were literally fresh out of college—age 22. Crazy. The girls who were about 13 came up to me and asked me questions and what my name was and everything—they were so sweet. I found a little girl who couldn't have been more than 7 with her nose pierced, and so I got a picture with her, as we both have our noses pierced. They put on a beautiful reception/performance after they served us bananas and coconuts for drinking: the 14-ish year olds danced for us, and it was so beautiful, well-done (they were very talented), and it looked like lots of fun... They then had some younger kids in some very beautiful and elaborate costumes come out and do a little dance for us, which was awesome, and then the same girls did another dance. It was awesome. I conclude that India has been my favorite port so far, but just barely more than South Africa. The people are so phenomenal, hospitable, kind, and it's cute how curious they are. We were like celebrities—I caught people taking pictures of me (it's funny because I was taking pictures of them...), and the people stare in general but they stare even more when you're a white person, lol...Oh, I must mention what I thought about the food: it's the grossest stuff you've ever been expected to eat, as far as looks go—it's goopy and nasty colors, which is made even worse by the fact that you're expected to somehow eat this stuff with your right hand, and your right hand only... But, it's pretty darn good, and oddly enough, nothing like the Indian food I've had back home. Yes, they used curry, but it was extremely subtle. I'm thinking that the American version of Indian food comes from the North, which is apparently a completely different culture, but it wasn't too spicy either (but then again, I have a high tolerance for spicy foods)... Anyway, that day when we got back from the school, I took a nap and then headed out because I needed to do some stuff like pick up my super-beautiful sari from the tailor (they were making my blouse), but there was almost literally no one on the ship, as it was the last day in port and midday—so, I wandered around for a really long time until I found someone who was leaving—people whose names I don't even remember, it was that random of a tag-along experience—and I went with them to, eventually, Spencer's Plaza to pick up my sari, so that was good... It fits perfectly. I also bought some more stuff, which was awesome: I still have more things I want from India, amazingly enough, but it's not a problem because I am without a doubt going back someday. It may be the dirtiest, trashiest, most disgusting place I've ever seen in my life, with tons of poverty, but the people are so phenomenal that it 100% doesn't even matter. Anyway, we wound up leaving pretty late and were super scared that we were going to be late and get dock time in Malaysia because of it, but we wound up getting there an hour early than on-ship time and there was no line for the gangway, which was amazing, so I had time to go through customs and whatnot and I didn't have to worry about it, which was very nice. I didn't see Caitlin nor Teneya the whole time in India, and I found that I missed them, so it was very good to see them again that night (we all congregated in Caitlin's room and looked at all the tons of stuff she bought and talked about our experiences)... Caitlin told me the horrible things she saw on her Taj Mahal trip: very young kids who couldn't have been more than 7 years old huffing White Out; people sleeping on piles of trash; a bag of chips being torn from a child's grasp by an adult beggar... just awful things like that—things that I didn't see. I would suppose that Northern India is even worse than the South... geez. It made me very sad to hear those things, and I understand now why people say it will hit you hard (and why it didn't for me—I didn't see those things; what I saw was just as bad as Brazil, which is bad of course, but not as bad as Caitlin's account of what she saw), and those are the people who went on the Taj. I had a sheltered experience, I suppose... I still enjoyed it very much. I'm so incredibly grateful to have been able to do this trip—I am so lucky. Thanks so much to all of you who helped make this possible—I couldn't have done it without you. I miss you guys so much, and I wish that you all could have seen what I saw and experienced with me. I can't wait to show you pictures!!! Well, I need to write those two papers—ick.

Much Love,

Michelle

Yay India!

I didn't get more internet minutes until after India! I'm so proud of myself!

Love you guys.

Michelle

March 6, 2008: Day 43

Today was pretty darn good. The past two days since I updated have been good, too, but I woke up in a bad mood the day after we set sail—no surprise there, it happens to everyone after leaving port because no one wants to leave (and be back to being cooped up on the ship with everyone else again). Anyway, like I said, today was good. I had breakfast with C-Money, which was yummy as usual (blueberry bagels, mmm!), and went to Global Studies. It was soooo good today! We first had a play put on by some students concerning the lack of females in India thanks to the preference of males (and therefore the illegal practice of sex-selected abortions and female infanticide) for the following reasons: only sons can set fire to the funeral pyre, which is the best possible transition into the next life after death; daughter's families have to pay dowry to their future husbands (dowry is now illegal but continues to be practiced—in fact, many women are killed by their husbands of brother-in-laws [or father-in-laws... can't remember] when they can't pay even more dowry even after they are married!), which, obviously, costs money that a lot of families cannot afford; and daughters are simply a burden in general. Because of this, there are many "bachelor villages" in which all men live who never got wives because they could not afford to take care of them and because single women are scarce: sometimes it's as bad as 700 women per 1,000 men... because of the majority of men, these single men have committed more crimes and picked up lots of bad habits like alcoholism and smoking... it is estimated that 40-60 million of India's women are missing thanks to abortions and infanticide. There are laws against using ultrasounds to find out the sex of the baby and getting female abortions, but they're not enforced as strictly as they need to be (because it's difficult to prevent doctors with easily-carried ultrasound machines from going anywhere they want because the machines are so portable, etc.)... Anyway, it was a very enlightening presentation and I had no idea until today that female infanticide and male preference was going on in India. It's a horrible thing and has to stop—it will be the end of them if it continues, and it is expected to... Reminds me of the movie "Children of Men," except these people have the choice to make things right again... That's the sad part. This is an issue that makes me angry because I disagree with anything that is what I consider "playing God," as in, goes against the natural flow of life. I'm all about natural. Aaaanyway, we also had one of our professors tell us a true story, which was relatively interesting (at any rate, a nice change from past presentations)... We're due to get our grades back soon, which will be curved, so who knows—maybe I'll get a C this time??? lol that's so pathetic that everyone's been doing so horribly on the tests, and it's because those who make the tests suck at composing them: the questions each time have been worded vaguely and unfairly, which can easily be confusing. Anyway, then I went to lunch and then Drawing class, where we YET AGAIN drew a tree... this woman treats the class as if it will go on forever, when we have 13 more days of class left, which is ridiculous. It would be ridiculous in a normal semester, let alone an SAS semester in which we have a whopping 23 days of class. Whatever, I'll humor her. I have my real drawing class to look forward to at home in the fall. Anyway, after that, I hung out with Teneya and Catherine in their room and we watched really old episodes of Gilmore Girls (the episodes from when I used to watch it... back when I watched TV), and I must say that I'm getting hooked again. Caitlin stopped by and we talked about what we're doing in Malaysia, and they're going to Terengganu indy together and once I get back from my homestay I'm going to fly there ASAP and stay a night or two before we have to go back to leave for our next port, Vietnam. I'm really excited about it because the flights were at one point $60 roundtrip (they're now double that, ick) and the rooms we'll be staying in in a hostel (never been in one before!) are $3 a night! It's super cheap in Malaysia, yay! Lots of really good shopping it sounds like, too! It's going to be fun, I'm super excited about Malaysia and I wish we had more time there... Anyway, after we kicked off planning for that, we all went to dinner where we had fettucine alfredo (eeek!! One of my favorite pasta dishes!!!) and, by the way, for lunch we had Taco Day, yay!!! What a good day as far as food goes! Then, I put my photos onto my computer (by the way, I'm an idiot and left my charger in Mauritius and so now my only hope is that they'll send it home so I will have it when I get back... I got lucky enough that the AV room had an extra charger I can borrow until I get a new one), which was great—I got a ton of great photos when we were in Mauritius. Oh, before I forget—all you amigos of mine out there, the DVDs in Vietnam are going to be super cheap, so if you want anything, lemme know I will get it for you. Anyway, then I called Nicoley and barely got to talk to her because she had to go :-(, and then called Eric because I missed him terribly after hearing Caitlin play Citizen Cope (they seriously should be best friends because the two of them have so much in common... I can't wait for them to meet) and it was good to talk to him... Then, I hung out with Caitlin and we talked and showed each other our pictures from Mauritius. When I was looking through them I realized how lucky I am to have such good friends here on the ship, even if I sometimes feel like I'd rather have my friends from home around instead. They're great and I'm sure we'll remain friends after this trip. Anyway, Caitlin showed me her vast collection of music and I kept saying, "Oh my goodness, Rose would totally love this," and "Oh my gosh, you like the Weepies too?! Alex freakin loves them!" and "Mary loves Regina Spektor, that's so cool you do, too!"lol Caitlin's music is her obsession, it makes her so happy. She's giving me a whole bunch of it eventually, which is awesome because she has the world's largest collection of chill music ever and I loooove chill music. It was awesome hanging out with her, and now that we have a time change, I'm sitting here writing to you at 1:15 am, yay! I'm super tired so I'm out. Much love!!!

Michelle

P.S. Alex: While in Mauritius, we stopped at an ATM on the way to our little inn and while there, I first heard one of the Tarzan songs you put on my cd over the nearby supermarket's PA system, and RIGHT after that, they played Michael Jackson's "You Rock My World"—I was so excited about it!!! It made me think of you, and it was kind of like you were saying "don't forget about me," even though I hadn't ;-) It was such a cool coincidence though... Muah!!!

March 7, 2008

Today was a really good day. I slept in til 12 pm (!), didn't go to Global Studies, yaaaayyy, and woke up, did some homework, went to lunch with Brittany... we had sherbet for dessert, which is a major commodity, so that was exciting... it's so funny how little things like taco day and sherbet for meals literally make my day because they're such a commodity... Anyway, then I went to Transcendentalism, where we discussed our reading from the Bhagavad Gita, which was about meditation and detachment. I disagree with the Bhagavad Gita and Hindu thought for this reason: they believe that in order to reach perfection, one must become detached from all things—feel no excitement with good fortune, nor depression with bad fortune; love all people just as much as you love your family; have no desire for earthly things... these things are humanly impossible and I therefore do not agree with it—perfection, I have found from personal experience, is a terrible thing to be expected to achieve. I could not handle the pressure of it, and as a result, renounced my Christian beliefs (for example) and I now feel so free from the pain and depression I got from trying to be perfect... It's a bad idea. Cute, in theory, but not good for real life because this is real life and real life's not perfect. Anyway, it's always a good thing to see different perspectives and I respect what they have to say concerning the matter, but I have no desire to renounce what I grew up learning to live a life of solidarity and freedom from emotions... in all honesty it sounds boring. Anyway, we had a very good discussion about that, and I enjoyed it as always, and then I went back to my room to do some more homework before my next class, the dreaded Art and Architecture. I watched about 10 minutes of Gilmore Girls with Misses Tenae-nae and Catherine, and went to class. It was droll as usual, but we learned a little bit about Kancheepuram and Mamallapuram, the latter of which I will be visiting in India (excitement!!!!!) while doing Art of Living. By the way, both Brittany and Brady are going to be doing Art of Living with me, which is very exciting! It's going to be so amazing... Anyway, I then went over to Caitlin's to do my drawing homework and then we went to dinner, where we had cream puffs for dessert!!!! The dining hall has been so kind and generous to us lately!!! I then went to the sea meeting, which was concerning what we are going to be doing tomorrow during the Sea Olympics, which we are going to win!!!!! If we win, we get to be first off of the ship in Miami!!! I'd honestly rather get 2^nd place because if we do, we get some extra internet minutes (besides, I'm sure I wouldn't want to say goodbye right away to my ship friends anyway)... Then, I went to my room and then went right back out again for one of the community colleges going on tonight: tying saris. It was very interesting and I cannot WAIT to buy a whole bunch of them!!!! I didn't realize how many different styles there are; it's going to be interesting deciding what to buy. Then, I hung out in my room and I watched Big Fish for the second time and still couldn't bring myself to like it as much as I feel I should. Then, I called Sir Alex, which was awesome, and enjoyed very much talking to him for about 5 minutes, and now here I am, writing to you guys! Tricia and I are ready for bed, so off I go!

Much Love,

Michelle

March 8, 2008: Day 45—Sea Olympics!

Ok. Here's the lowdown on what went on today, but before I do that, let me take this moment to complain about my lovely neighbor's raucous behavior last night when I was trying to sleep: they had people over and they were playing cards and "Oooohhh"-ing quite loudly and banging against the wall until 1:30 am, even after I called to ask them to be quiet (and called again later but they didn't pick up... jerks). I am quite dissatisfied with them and have talked to them about it and I sincerely hope that it doesn't happen again because if it does, I will call the security guy, because that's just rude. I don't care that we are on friendly terms—that is so incredibly rude... one of the things that gets me so angry that I could kick someone in the shin is when they are noisy when I am trying to sleep. Anyway, as for today and the Sea Olympics: Caitlin and I got up for breakfast and then put on our purple and Adriatic Sea war paint and went to the Union to show our team spirit at 9 am. That was fun—I really enjoyed hearing everyone's chants and seeing their routines. Everyone did such a good job today—I was so impressed. We had events like Hawaiian bowling (whatever that is), board games like Scrabble (I'm so sad I didn't get to do it), a scavenger hunt, mashed potato sculpting (Caitlin was in that... I would never do that, it's such a nasty idea to me), synchronized swimming (it was sooo awesome—everyone did such a good job, and lots of them were really funny! Our sea did the Little Miss Sunshine end routine to "Superfreak"), musical chairs, slippery Twister, and lots of others, including lip synch (Teneya was in it... she was so adorable), which was basically "shake-what-your-mama-gave-you" hour lol, but it was fun to watch. I had originally tried to sign up for the cool stuff but didn't get anything, so when we had another round of signing up for events, I simply didn't sign up for anything, so I had a nice leisurely day to myself to recoop and watch events as I pleased, which was very nice. I sunbathed for about an hour because I am so sick of getting sunburnt while in port (the sad thing about being on the ship is one never goes outside for extended amounts of time unless one is tanning or eating outside, and eating outside is not enough sun compared to the amount of artificial light one gets each day on the Explorer), and I wound up getting very badly sunburnt on my legs, and my eyelids, which is weird... I've never been burnt on my eyelids. I look like I have crazy eyeshadow on. Anyway, that really sucks but I'm an idiot and forgot that we're on the Equator today (and the sun is therefore much more intense than any other latitude in the world), so that was very bad timing, and I am in lots of pain because of it. I got coerced into doing the swim suit relay, which is the worst event EVER, but I felt bad for the girl who couldn't do it because she had an ear infection, so I did it anyway, but here's what it involves: you have a team of 6 and you have to put on super huge, wet clothing and swim to one end of the pool and back, take off the clothes, give them to someone else on your team to put on, and repeat until everyone has gone. We most definitely did not win that round, which was partially my fault thanks to my wanting to dive all the time (we're not allowed to because the pool's so shallow that we could get hurt)—thank you, swim team—so I had to do it yet again, which is so incredibly exhausting the first time one does that, let alone the second! I don't know how people swim with clothes on because it is almost 100% impossible. After lip synch, the Sea order was announced, and we got 7^th place (my favorite number!), and the sea that won was the Baltic. I was so sure that the Aegean Sea would win, because they were awesome at EVERYTHING, I swear, but they got third. So, it was a really fun day, and I topped it off with Gilmore Girls with Teneya after toying with the thought of going to the dance party, but none of my friends were there and I was too tired to dance with random people, so that was good... I went through missing a lot of people today and random times, thanks to various songs, or other little things that remind me of my favorite people back home. I miss you guys so much. I daydream about seeing you all again all the time. Well, I am terribly sleep-deprived, so I need to go to bed. Much love to you all,

Michelle :-)

March 9, 2008: Day 46

Today was pretty cool... I slept in through breakfast and went to Global Studies (reluctantly :-P) with Caitlin and the first part of it was pretty cool, but the second part was about temple restoration (something that has almost nothing to do with what we're going to be experiencing in India—that was something I was so sure we'd be concentrating on in Global Studies before I came to the ship... it's weird we don't) and we learned all these weird terms for the lapses of time, which was confusing and seemed out of context. It was the most random Global Studies presentation we've had yet. Tis cool, though; no big deal... A random thought: I'm I'm grateful that at the very least they don't send people down to knock on our doors for Global Studies (it's a mandatory class) and they can treat us like adults enough to trust that we will come if we are able... I also think that the crew (the waiters, the cabin stewards, the Purser's Desk people, the people in the spa, etc) are totally and completely AWESOME and aaaallllways friendly and happy to help. It's refreshing for sure. On to another subject... I took a quick nap and then a shower and went to lunch, and afterwards went to my pretty much favorite class, Transcendentalism and Eastern Thought, where we talked about what we're going to do in India (it sounds like people are doing some really cool things, like mongoose versus snake fights and going to religious festivals, etc... count on the awesome people in that class to do cool things like that) and discussed meditation and the benefits/downsides of it, and our homework is to practice meditation—something I will be doing for three straight days while in India! I'm so incredibly ready for India—I'm ready for life-changing experiences, and becoming a new person and shedding my old me, and getting out there and actually getting one-on-one time with the locals (something I have been wanting to do and been trying to do this whole time). I'm still planning on getting my nose pierced, if safe and sanitary, and I want to get some extensive henna done on my body, which will look beautiful I am sure (I'm officially a huge fan of henna tattoos)... I'm very excited about buying fabrics and saris, as well, because what I have seen is extremely beautiful, and I really like the idea of wearing the native clothing in the countries we will be visiting. It seems so exotic :-) Tonight Caitlin and I had a really good, long conversation, which I enjoyed, and I also had a 25-minute massage (which was way too short :-P), which was sooo nice, and tonight we had the Mr. SAS pageant, and our Chinese student, Chi, won. It was very funny to see/hear the contestants' "talent" and responses to questions, so it was a very entertaining evening, to say the least. We had to lose a half an hour tonight (strange...), so I have less sleep to look forward to than usual, so it's off to bed for me! I love you guys so much and please know that I'm whining about all the ridiculous things going on on the ship because they are real issues and not because I just like to complain. Xoxoxo!

Michelle :-D

March 10, 2008: Day 47

Today was pretty easygoing... I went to Global Studies, which was about the political aspect of India (which is important—I enjoy learning important things that are relevant to what we will be experiencing in Global Studies), and took a nap before going to drawing class, where we drew a model (one of the lifelong learners) using different marks, which was pretty fun but also kind of overwhelming because there is much more detail in a human subject than in a tree or bush landscape... I dread having to do a self-portrait for the final project because drawing human figures is so difficult for me. Anyway, I then hung out with Caitlin as she packed for the Taj trip she's going on (I'm sooooo jealous... she also gets to go to Varanasi, which is the most sacred city on the Ganges, which is itself the most scared river to the Indians, and watch them do their daily bathing, as well as dispose of the dead and cremated in the river—hence it is the most dirty river in the world... Legend has it that if you die in Varanasi you get out of the cycle of reincarnation and go to the Hindu's version of nirvana or heaven so lots of people go there to die), and her, Catherine, and I went to one of the classrooms for the second world religions discussion, where we had our new academic Dean Ehnbom (who, sadly, is conceited and sometimes condescending because it's quite apparent that he thinks he knows everything because of his education) talk to us about Hinduism, which was a dry presentation, and then Sam, one of the anthropology professors, talked to us about the much more interesting aspects of Hinduism, like why cows are sacred. Ever wondered why? I have, too. Reason: the Indo-Europeans brought over the glorified vision of the Western cowboy and the Indians took that vision of ultimate manliness and somehow respect cattle so much that they are sacred and not to be killed. Hindus used to be beef eaters before this time. The irony of them being sacred, however, is that they don't get treated as wonderfully as you'd expect, and they apparently roam the streets, and when cattle are no longer producers, their owners can only set them out into the wild (because it's the ultimate taboo to kill them)... They slap them around in the markets when they get crafty and lift some food from the vendors "like they do their own children," said matter-of-factly by Sam, which was pretty funny... It was a very good discussion and I loved learning more about Hinduism. I also learned that the Vedas, their religious text, is actually not meant to be written down because it is an oral tradition and once written down, it becomes dead because you can't hear the rhythmic syllables spoken aloud etc. It is so important to memorize the Vedas, as the Brahmins (highest caste, composed of priests) must do and they have been doing it for centuries—you can have one Brahmin from the south and one from the north (two completely different cultures, apparently) of India and they will both cite it exactly the same, syllable to syllable. I found that so fascinating. I then went to dinner, which was unexciting, and to Dipika, one of our interport students's Bollywood dance demonstration/lesson, and tried doing the stuff but felt ridiculous shaking my hips in front of people and stopped, and then went to the Union for our mandatory pre-port, which was both entertaining and very informative, as usual, and now I'm here in my room, packing last-minute for my Art of Living, and I'm completely lost as to what I should pack, as I have to cover up lots of my body, but I'm going to be doing yoga, which requires comfortable clothing (an ankle-length skirt would not be appropriate for such an occasion...). I cannot wait for getting my nose pierced, getting henna done, lots and lots of shopping, life-changing experiences, learning how to manage stress and learn how to live in Art of Living lol, and much, much more... I hope I learn soooo much. I'm so ready for this. Bring it on, India!!!

Michelle

March 11, 2008: Day 48—Art of Living Day 1

I woke up with Caitlin at 6 am to watch the sunrise, but it was rather disappointing because there was only a small splash of pink that managed to get through the muggy, smoggy, icky morning weather. It was pretty warm already. The smell as we arrived in port was a very interesting one (I mention this because everyone seems to say something about the smell of India), but not awful (yet) as people have made it out to be: it was a combination of burning charcoal with ship's lubricating oil—it was a very strong smell but not as unpleasant as everyone makes sure to mention (of course, I haven't been into Chennai yet, so I guess that's where the smell gets nasty when combined with human wastes... urgh). We went through more bureaucracy for customs and whatnot to get off the ship here in Chennai than we have in any other port, which involved waiting in line to get papers signed and stamped. I then grabbed my stuff, the sweet little Indian red rose I was given by the hospitality desk, and headed off with some friends and friendly acquaintances (I was fortunate enough to know lots of people on this trip) to Mamallapuram area for Art of Living, which was about a one hour drive. We went to Mamallapuram to see ancient temples and Hindu monuments like the Five Rahas and the Descent of the Ganges (you should look up pictures on the internet)... I think the Shore Temple that we saw was Buddhist, though, because it had a lying Buddha hidden in a crevasse. At the Shore Temple, we climbed on top of an elephant (I wouldn't have done it if I didn't see an Indian do the same exact thing) and took pictures on it, which was fun... We enjoyed the experience of getting attacked by the street hackers (both adults and very young children shared the same intense, desperate pleads to us to buy their products—it was saddening to see a young girl follow one of the group all the way up to the bus's steps yelling, "Just one dollar! One dollar!!!"), and those Indian hackers just won't take no for an answer, unless you have no money whatsoever, and at that point they would ask you for your watch... One guy came up to me with a booklet which was essentially the Kama Sutra and shoved it in my face, which was awkward and embarrassing, and tried to tell me that I could learn from it, at which point I laughed and ran away from him. That was quite a hilarious experience. Another wonderful incident was after I bought a tasty coconut to drink: I was running late for the bus and a boy of about 14 offered to give me about a 20 second ride on his motorcycle/scooter to get to it before it left, and it was so much fun!!! He then sold me 2 moonstone pendants for $6 later because he caught up with us at our next stop and wouldn't leave me alone... I plan on turning them into earrings—they're quite beautiful. I got to know him a little bit, and his name is Dilip. He told us about some temples that were on the other side of one of the stops we made, and Brady, Julie, and I wandered over there, so that was nice of him. The Indians are the most friendly, smiling, warm, and helpful people I have come across so far (even a little more than the South Africans!)—if you give them a smile, they can't help but smile back. It's so sweet. Anyway, Dilip asked me for something from America to remember me and my friends by, but I didn't have anything on me that I could give him—I would have loved to give him something if I could have. I forgot to mention that before we left Chennai, we visited a modern Hindu temple that is like a great big pyramid with plaster figures covering the entire outer surface, which are each brightly and elaborately painted. We had to take off our shoes and were charged for the use of a camera, which I did not pay because I didn't have any rupees yet! Sadness! A random thing I find interesting about this country: no matter what age or body type (which doesn't vary much, honestly—they're all mostly short and slender, but some are pretty chubby), the women here wear traditional saris (which consist of a "blouse," which is basically a tank top that shows off the belly; pants or a petticoat; and the sari itself, which is the fabric they wrap around themselves) and they all look beautiful no matter what. I think that's so awesome. As a whole, they are so healthy because most Indians are vegetarians and they radiate because of it. Of course, their healthcare is appalling and they have a very low chance of getting the medications they may need, but as far as their diet goes (when they can eat), it is quite healthy. As for Art of Living, we are staying at Dakshina Chitra Heritage village, which is a representation/collection of the different Southern Indian types of abodes in it and is wonderful to see. They have cultural activities during the day, so of course, it is a school field trip hotspot. We saw tons of children of varying ages up to high school, all with different uniforms. The younger children wear regular-looking uniforms, but the high school women we saw all wore the same saris. Anyway, our (me, Summer, and Julie's) room smells strongly of mothballs and lacks any towels whatsoever. The weather was terribly humid but at the same time, much more bearable than I had expected—it felt a lot like summer in Georgia, except perhaps even more humid. When we arrived, we were greeted by two women in true saris who applied the red kum-kum paste to each of our foreheads and sprinkled water on us, all the while with beaming smiles on their faces. It was a wonderful welcome. We checked in to our rooms, and, thank goodness, we have Western toilets, rather than the dreaded squatty potties. I finally tried the whole non-Western toilet situation and it wasn't that bad, but I still prefer our way :-P... Then, we had a quick but delicious snack of samosas and coconuts with their tops freshly chopped off by menacing-looking machetes, and we then went to our first (of many more) Art of Living class. We learned how to control our breathing. We then had a traditional South Indian vegetarian meal, which was surprisingly satisfying (I'm so used to always being hungry after only having veggies for a meal—it's because we don't use spices!) and we ate off of banana leaves and we all awkwardly tried to eat with our right hands (it's rude/taboo to use/eat with your left hand because that's reserved for use in the bathroom, grossly enough), which was entertaining. It has become very apparent to me that all Indian food is going to look totally unappetizing, but it usually tastes pretty good. It's funny how that works out—seems kind of counterintuitive. The meal was pretty good, but not the type of meal I would want to have all the time because the textures and flavors are unfamiliar (not necessarily unpleasant) to me, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless. We then went outside to hear a 54 year-old single (that's very unusual) Indian woman tell us traditional Hindu mythology stories, which were so amazing to listen to—I've always loved mythology and this was no exception. She then allowed us to ask any questions we wanted to about the culture and she firmly believes in the adage, "Whatever is true in India, the opposite is also true." For example, there are lots of arranged marriages, but there are also some marriages based on love, and there is even the occasional elopement. Well, I got bitten by HUGE bugbites on my back and the Benadryl I took is starting to kick in and make me sleepy, so it's off to bed for me! Much love,

Michelle

March 16, 2008: Day 53—India... a Place of Serious Contrasts

Wow. We're already a day over halfway through... It's unbelievable. I feel like I'm in this time warp where I am looking forward to coming home but at the same time I want to see the entire world. I also keep thinking it's still winter, and it's not, lol... Even now, when I go to type the date, I still think it's February... Anyway, here's a little revelation I had a couple of days ago and it's funny that I didn't realize it until now: "holy cow" comes from the Indians revering the cow (by the way, they revere cattle because they are nurturing because they provide milk, and anything that is nurturing is revered—that's the fifth theory I've heard on it, I swear, and the irony is that women are nurturing in that respect and should therefore be revered, and they are in Hinduism, but wives and women are treated like dirt in Indian society)... Also, "until the cows come home" comes from observation of Indian culture as well (the Indians set their cows free everyday to fend for themselves food-wise and they come home every night like a dog would)... Funny stuff. As for my second day in India, I will try to remember as much as I can—I've been slacking off on my journaling because I simply haven't felt like it. It's a good thing I have today off to catch up on sleep and do all the things I need to do (such as update this and write my 2 papers)... We woke up at 6:30, had some hot chocolate, and did about 15 minutes of yoga and then concentrated on breathing exercises and meditation (Art of Living was pretty much that entirely, with barely any yoga), then had breakfast, did more of Art of Living (it definitely has a major cult following... not my kind of thing) where we did Sudarshan Kriya. This is basically a breathing exercise you do in three different paces for a long time (like 30 minutes or so) until you pass out, essentially... It's supposed to cleanse your body/mind/soul and renew you, but I just thought it was awful and it didn't help me at all, even though I put 100% effort into it like they kept telling us to: my hands and feet got numb and I was tingly and lightheaded and I absolutely hate that sensation so it made me very mad while we were doing it... and after we laid down, I slept but didn't have the half awake/half asleep sensation some other people had... We then had a very delicious Indian lunch, and for dessert, something soooo good: for short, it's called Jamun, and it's these little round balls of fried dough suspended in this hot sugar syrup that was amazing! I bought 3 or 4 bags of the mix so I can make it at home, so be prepared to have some because it's awesome. We then had some free time and had a tour of Dakshina Chitra, which I walked away from after a while because a lady was doing intricate henna designs on people's hands for only a few cents more than a dollar, which is amazing, so I got some on my left arm. It's beautiful—one thing I've learned is that Indians absolutely love two things: peacocks and jasmine—and mine looks like a peacock. It's so beautiful. I then met a bunch of young men and their professors from an education college, and they were so nice. They did the typical Indian man thing to me and told me I was beautiful (I looked like crap... I was dripping sweat in my basketball shorts and t-shirt lol) and tried to get me to come home with them, which was so annoying and I made it clear that I had no intention of doing that whatsoever... Ugh. Anyway, it was fun to talk to the professor, though, who was very respectful and kind, and he told me how to care for my henna, and asked me questions about America (he is an English professor, so I imagine he wanted to test his English to make sure that it is truly correct, because apparently they teach English but it's not always entirely grammatically sound) and how I liked India. I then wandered around with Julie and we came across these students who were freshmen at the Chennai fashion design institute who were drawing there for a day trip—they were soo nice and showed us some popular music and wrote it down as well so we could go buy it, and asked if I was on Facebook (to which I replied with a shriek of delight, lol, and probably threw them off a bit haha), and talked about where they were from and stuff. Apparently their school only chooses 30 students out of the ENTIRE country (let me remind you that they have over a billion people in their country) per year through interviews and crap like that... I was very impressed. I ran into two girls from that group later on at a mall and it was cool that I happened to because Chennai is a ridiculously over populated city... Anyway, that night we did some more Sudarshan Kriya, to my dismay, and then had a nice dinner... Next day, I was positively sick of doing Art of Living (three days is way too long, but the original program is actually 6 days, so they had to condense it for us) and we did Surdarshan Kriya YET AGAIN and this time I was so annoyed at having to do it so much that I just pretended I was doing it... We got lots of life talks during this trip, too, which I don't remember hearing much at all because the guy who taught us had a heavy accent, so it was hard to understand him, so after a while I just spaced out, and the accent is so musical and soothing that I pretty much fell half asleep most of the time when he talked to us lol... Overall, it was a good experience and I don't mind that I did it (and I don't feel like it was a waste of time), mainly because I got a good view/idea of the South Indian culture, but I was sure as heck glad to go back to the ship. I really enjoyed wandering around barefoot the whole time, though (lots if Indians walk around barefoot), but it was funny because I absolutely hate having dirty feet, so I felt gross the whole time, but the desire to be barefoot just barely outweighed the desire to have clean feet... I got some shopping done and got some beautiful pashmina scarves (one for me and one for who knows?) and some super cheap but very beautiful bangles and earrings... Anyway, on Friday (March 14^th—the day after we got back from Art of Living), I skipped the Indian college and home visit SAS trip I bought because I really wanted to go shopping, and one guy was on it that I dislike, and it was a very small group (I knew he would latch onto me, and I wasn't willing to put up with it from 8:30 am-7:00 pm... ick), and wound up going with Brittany and Melodi, who were both on Art of Living with me. Oh, I forgot to mention: at Art of Living, we each had to say what we liked about it to the instructor (I had to make up stuff haha), and one girl mentioned that she has cystic fibrosis, and it helped with her breathing... It struck me through the heart to hear her say this—to know that there is a dying person on our ship just makes me so sad. I mean, I know she won't pass away for a few years, probably, but it killed me—it made me aware of how much more grateful I should be than I already am to be alive and not feel like my clock was ticking until I died. It didn't seem like anyone else in our group realized what cystic fibrosis is, and for me, it was like time stood still for a while... I talked to her casually later that night and she seemed like she was happy (I didn't ask her about it)—she must be so grateful to be able to go on SAS. I truly wish her the best—like I said, it made me sad and woke me up to reality more, too. Anyway, the next day, we all went to T. Nagar, which is this shabby-looking market-type of place that just has nasty plastic toys and stupid super-cheap stuff like that... We didn't stay there long, but I did buy some Indian cds and Bollywood movies (some for $1 each—crazy, huh?), and we then went to Spencer's Plaza, which was much better: it's basically an indoor mall/market where you can haggle for a good price. It's soooo huge—bigger than any shopping mall I've ever seen. Oh my goodness, before I forget, I absolutely MUST tell you about the head bobble that South Indians do (cutest thing—and most confusing/bizarre—you've ever seen): they wobble it from side to side in a way that kind of looks like a nod or head shake, but it has many different meanings: it's a moment filler; they use it to acknowledge that they are listening; they mean it like "sure" or "whatever works"; or, they just do it to fill time/space when interacting with people. It's so cute. I will have to show it to you guys when I get home, but I know I will really miss seeing it because it's so darling. Anyway, at Spencer's Plaza, I bought a TON of good stuff for a very good price (I had the best shopping experiences in India... I cannot wait to show you all everything I got, because I'm proud of the good prices I got them... For example, I got a huge cashmere/silk blend blanket for $25), aaaand!!!!: I got my nose pierced there, too, in a jeweler's shop!!! Had I not gotten the 14 karat gold ring (simply because when I have gotten my ears pierced, they're very sensitive at first and I'm not allergic to gold) and gotten the regular nose studs, I would have only paid 150 rupees, which is almost $4 for a nose piercing as well as the stud, which is awesome... However, I wound up paying about $40, which is pretty much how much I would have paid in the US. It was so exciting: I was very scared (I don't do voluntary pain very well) and shied away from the guy two or three times before I spaced out and let him do it... It hurt pretty badly, and two days later, it's still swollen and pretty sore, but it looks cool (minus the fact that it's a gold color, which I don't like). I got a beautiful iridescent teensy nose stud for a month from now when I can take out the earring (they literally used an earring on my nose and pierced it just like you would an ear), and it's very tasteful and small. I like it a lot and can't wait to put it in—I only paid 25 rupees for it, which is about 60 cents, lol! In America, I would have paid at the very least $5... Anyway, we went to lunch and I had fresh lime juice, which was sooooo good!!!! I also had a very delicious pineapple sundae, yummy! Our auto-rickshaw driver (auto-rickshaws are three-wheeled little car-like vehicles that are super cheap—for example, about $2 to drive 45 minutes through traffic—and the drivers drive like maniacs and stop within inches of cars and scooters in front of them... it was an AWESOME experience!!! :-D), Madu, has driven SAS students before, and was very sweet and talkative, and had an arsenal of animated sounds and arm movements to tell us his funny little stories... He also spent a lot of time looking back at us to tell us these stories while still driving (Mom, I wish I could see your face right now :-P...), which was interesting... The amazing thing about Indian's appalling driving habits is that I did not witness a single accident. I'm starting to wonder if American caution is what causes our accidents—being hesitant isn't a good thing... Don't worry guys, I won't come home and drive like an Indian, I promise... Anyway, he took us to a bunch of shops we didn't want to go to, but whatever... That night, I went to try to see a Bollywood film with Catherine, Brady, our Malaysian interport student and Brady's temporary roommate, Nor, and Melodi—they had no Bollywood films showing, only American ones, which was a major bummer because I really wanted to see one in theaters... But, we wound up seeing 10,000 BC, which was suuuuuuuchhhhhh a good movie!!!! I absolutely love movies like that (it was made by the Day After Tomorrow director, if that gives you an idea what it was like— and it was really intense and had lots of battle scenes, and I must admit that I really enjoy the cheesy motivational music and pre-battle speeches)... Even though it was American, it was so much better to see it there than back at home, because everyone made hilarious comments (sometimes in Tamil, the language of Tamil Nadu, the state in which Chennai is located, and sometimes in English, but they did things like oooh and ahhh and boo and stuff like that), which added to the entertainment, and Indians have an intermission! I have never experienced an intermission in a movie theater, so that was new—and the sad thing is, I sat in literally the very closest seat to the wall, and there is hardly any room in between rows, so you have to climb over people and stick your butt in their faces in order to get in or out if they're still sitting, and as I didn't know there was an intermission and I had to go to the bathroom very badly, I wound up going 15 minutes before intermission... I swear the people in my row hated me for that haha... Oh well. I would very much like to own 10,000 BC, so hopefully I will remember to buy it when it comes out. The next day, after having 4 ½ hours of sleep (when in port, there is no time for sleep, I swear), I had the privilege of going on a service project through SAS to a K-12 school in the poorest part of Chennai... Brittany was on it, so she and I taught some 3^rd graders math and science, which was wonderful. The reception as we walked up made me feel more welcome than I have ever felt: there are drawings on the thresholds that the Indians make out of rice paste in beautiful designs to welcome people in (they make them everyday) and keep out the Evil Eye, whatever that is, and theirs was colorful and bright, rather than the usual white, which was cute... They had a bunch of the kids play their instruments for us as we entered the building, and there were some more, younger kids who were in the background waving the Indian flag and yelling "Welcome" and "Hello", and we each got a small, beautiful rose, a streak of orange on our foreheads, a big, colorful necklace-type thing, and water sprinkled on us. It was so amazing that I kept tearing up. It was so beautiful, and something about it was so overwhelming in a very good way—the kind of way that makes your heart swell a few sizes :-) ... I had fun teaching the little kids, but man, were they rowdy: even before you finished writing a problem up on the board, they would all stand up, thrust their hands into the air, and yell as loudly as they could, "Oooh! Oohh!!! Miss!!! Miss!!!" and would often come all the way up to the front of the room up to us and declare to us what the answer was... it was hilarious. Also kind of annoying. But cute. The teacher was so nice and asked for my email address, because her daughter is in college, too, and she might want to email me, which is awesome... A lot of the other teachers were literally fresh out of college—age 22. Crazy. The girls who were about 13 came up to me and asked me questions and what my name was and everything—they were so sweet. I found a little girl who couldn't have been more than 7 with her nose pierced, and so I got a picture with her, as we both have our noses pierced. They put on a beautiful reception/performance after they served us bananas and coconuts for drinking: the 14-ish year olds danced for us, and it was so beautiful, well-done (they were very talented), and it looked like lots of fun... They then had some younger kids in some very beautiful and elaborate costumes come out and do a little dance for us, which was awesome, and then the same girls did another dance. It was awesome. I conclude that India has been my favorite port so far, but just barely more than South Africa. The people are so phenomenal, hospitable, kind, and it's cute how curious they are. We were like celebrities—I caught people taking pictures of me (it's funny because I was taking pictures of them...), and the people stare in general but they stare even more when you're a white person, lol...Oh, I must mention what I thought about the food: it's the grossest stuff you've ever been expected to eat, as far as looks go—it's goopy and nasty colors, which is made even worse by the fact that you're expected to somehow eat this stuff with your right hand, and your right hand only... But, it's pretty darn good, and oddly enough, nothing like the Indian food I've had back home. Yes, they used curry, but it was extremely subtle. I'm thinking that the American version of Indian food comes from the North, which is apparently a completely different culture, but it wasn't too spicy either (but then again, I have a high tolerance for spicy foods)... Anyway, that day when we got back from the school, I took a nap and then headed out because I needed to do some stuff like pick up my super-beautiful sari from the tailor (they were making my blouse), but there was almost literally no one on the ship, as it was the last day in port and midday—so, I wandered around for a really long time until I found someone who was leaving—people whose names I don't even remember, it was that random of a tag-along experience—and I went with them to, eventually, Spencer's Plaza to pick up my sari, so that was good... It fits perfectly. I also bought some more stuff, which was awesome: I still have more things I want from India, amazingly enough, but it's not a problem because I am without a doubt going back someday. It may be the dirtiest, trashiest, most disgusting place I've ever seen in my life, with tons of poverty, but the people are so phenomenal that it 100% doesn't even matter. Anyway, we wound up leaving pretty late and were super scared that we were going to be late and get dock time in Malaysia because of it, but we wound up getting there an hour early than on-ship time and there was no line for the gangway, which was amazing, so I had time to go through customs and whatnot and I didn't have to worry about it, which was very nice. I didn't see Caitlin nor Teneya the whole time in India, and I found that I missed them, so it was very good to see them again that night (we all congregated in Caitlin's room and looked at all the tons of stuff she bought and talked about our experiences)... Caitlin told me the horrible things she saw on her Taj Mahal trip: very young kids who couldn't have been more than 7 years old huffing White Out; people sleeping on piles of trash; a bag of chips being torn from a child's grasp by an adult beggar... just awful things like that—things that I didn't see. I would suppose that Northern India is even worse than the South... geez. It made me very sad to hear those things, and I understand now why people say it will hit you hard (and why it didn't for me—I didn't see those things; what I saw was just as bad as Brazil, which is bad of course, but not as bad as Caitlin's account of what she saw), and those are the people who went on the Taj. I had a sheltered experience, I suppose... I still enjoyed it very much. I'm so incredibly grateful to have been able to do this trip—I am so lucky. Thanks so much to all of you who helped make this possible—I couldn't have done it without you. I miss you guys so much, and I wish that you all could have seen what I saw and experienced with me. I can't wait to show you pictures!!! Well, I need to write those two papers—ick.

Much Love,

Michelle