bangkok, thailand

wow, its been two weeks since my last blog and yet it feels like it was only yesterday.

after leaving india, we were on the ship for five days. i spent the majority of my time in conduct hearings thus not having much time to blog.

we arrived in thailand on sunday, march 15th. the port we docked at was in laem chabang, which was deserted except for us and the small fleet of taxi drivers whose mercy we were at since we had no other means of transportation.

the taxi ride to bangkok was over three hours long and $100 one way (i knew i would not be going there the first day since it took awhile for the ship to clear and i also knew i would not be visiting bangkok on my second day in thailand since i was on dean duty)

i went to breakfast intending to spend the day in laem chabang, working on conduct letters and sharing a ride to a recently built mall that had a starbucks (venti soy chai, no water, no foam and extra hot was calling my name) :)

i had breakfast with beth (librarian) and her partner chuck (who had just flown 23 hours from virginia) beth and chuck invited me to join them in pattaya for the day. i took beth and chuck up on their offer and we were off to pattaya after paying 2500 baht for a round trip taxi ride (this is about $52.00 u.s dollars)

pattaya is DEFINITELY a tourist town-the population of pattaya is 80, 000 natives and 300,00 non-natives. it is a beach resort filled with single, old men taking advantage of the sex trade operation that is so prevalent in thailand. (more on this later) once we arrived in pattaya, we walked around the town for a bit-scattered through out the town there are makeshift shrines in front of local businesses and several pictures of the king.

after walking around the beach front area, we ventured a few blocks away in search of a thailand christmas ornament for beth's collection. we also thought it might be a good time to stop for something cold to drink so i began to search for an atm machine. the first atm machine i used rejected my card and the second atm machine took my card but i was able to retrieve it since there was a man sitting in the booth next to the machine. not sure what was going on with my card i thought it would be best to get baht from a bank. i went into the krung thai bank and after several attempts of explaining my dilemma, a woman from the bank took my card, walked me to the atm machine and put my card into the atm where it promptly ate it. when i asked to get my card back i was greeted with a smile of confusion and escorted back into the bank. after several language barrier misunderstandings i learned i could not get my card back because it was sunday. i would have to return the next day when the person who had the key could unlock the machine and retrieve my credit card for me. needless to say i was stressed, bummed, frustrated and stuck in pattaya with no money. however, my day with beth and chuck was good and we ended by stopping by a buddhist temple on the way back to the ship.

knowing that i would have to return to pattaya the next day to get my card, i knew my chances of getting to bangkok were slipping away since i also had a semester at sea field trip on the last day and i was the trip leader.

i returned to the ship, cardless, hungry and thirsty. i went to dinner and shared my woes with anyone who would listen :) bama came into the dining hall looking for me to go with her and a bunch of other folks to the leam chabang mall. after several minutes of pleading, and promising me a chai from starbucks, i went to the mall with bama. while we were at the mall, we shopped at lotus (similar to wal-mart) for snack food, had a chai :) and thought it would be a good idea to ask around to see if anyone else was going to pattaya the next day so in order to share the cost. every time we ran into an sas group of people, bama would ask they if they were going to pad thai! :) we finally found two students who thought they might be going-they promised to call me by midnight if they decided to go. the next morning i got a call from the students saying they were leaving in fifteen minutes for pattaya and would only be there for the day. after waiting for two and one half hours, i finally made it back to pattaya with five sas students. i wasnt sure what the day would hold for me- i was worried about getting my credit card back, not sure if the students would be okay with me hanging out with them and not wanting to spend the entire day in a place i had already been.

after finding a hotel for two of the students, we went to lunch where it was decided that the students would get massages while i went to rescue my credit card. the students were great-they offered to go with me to get my card, they assured me that getting a thai massage was the next best thing to sliced bread and that they had no issues spending time with me.

i left the students at one of the plethora of thai massage places and made my way back to the thai krung bank. it took all of two minutes to receive my card and after several smiles and thank yous i was on my way. while i waited for the students, i had a thai foot massage. (it is better than sliced bread)

after massages, we went to the beach. the students rode jet skis, ate street food such as fried crabs and shrimp, pineapple and coconut milk. as i sat on the beach i was privy to the sex trade operation at work-old men, overweight and leather skinned from too much sun would walk back and forth on the beach in their speedos (contrary to their belief, they are not attractive in speedos) in hopes of gaining a companion for the day.

i had hoped to leave pattaya by three but the students wanted to experience the night life in pattaya. i was tired, hot and ready to be done but stayed with the students. as the night wore on, i watched as men came out of the wood work, smothered in bad cologne and hawaiian shirts attempting to lure women. the women littered the streets with their faces caked with make up and their clothing revealing all they had to offer. i was saddened by the knowledge that working in the sex trade was a means of survival for the women and their families and i was angered as i watched the men swarm around the women. by 10:30pm
i was more than ready to return to the ship.

i spent the next two days on the ship doing conduct, working out, reading and watching movies.
okay, i also snuck out to the mall, when i found other folks to share the cab ride cost, and had a few more chais before i left thailand. :)

on my last day in thailand, i was the trip leader for the nong nooch cultural village field trip. the gardens of nong nooch were amazing-they were filled with colorfully painted stone animals such as frogs and parrots and the trees, flowers and other garden life was green and lush. it was a peaceful time until i came upon the tourist attraction of animals (apes, monkeys and cougars) being forced to perform. i dont think i will ever understand why we feel the need to dress up animals in human clothing and make them pose for pictures with us.

after the gardens, we were taken to another part of the gardens to watch thai dancing, thai kick boxing and an elephant show. i dont mean to be debbie downer but i walked out of the elephant show after watching the elephants being abused and forced to perform tasks that belonged in a circus.

laem chabang, thailand

we arrived in the port of laem chabang, thailand three days ago (guess its really four days ago since it is now one thirty in the morning on wednesday, march 18, 2009.)

i know i usually wait to post my blog after i have left a country but thought i would send you all some pictures of the sun rising as we approached the port of laem chabang, thailand.

chennai, india

well its been eight days since we left chennai, india and i am now just getting to my blog. even though we were at sea for five days before we reached laem chabang, thailand on sunday, i did not have time to share my thoughts about my time in india. unfortunately, i spent most of my five days at sea meeting with students involved with policy violations-returning shore pass and customs form late, disrespect toward semester at sea staff and mv explorer crew, misuse of technology, possession of alcohol, etc.


upon arriving in india, all of my senses were immediately attacked and the assault did not stop until long after i left india.

as we sailed into india, i could smell the pollution as it seeped onto the ship. the smog, the coal dust, the trash, the urine and feces, the spices, the chilies, the jasmine and other smells i don't have names for bombarded my nose.

before getting off the ship in india, we had a diplomatic briefing in which we were told that the overall threat india was high mainly due to terrorist threats-it was important for us to not spend time in large tourist areas since these are the locations where terrorist attacks tend to occur.

as i got off the ship, i was hit in the face with the 96 degree heat, not included the humidity, and my clothes stuck to me like a fly caught in fly paper. did i mention that women in india are not allowed to show their legs or shoulders so needless to say that shorts or tank tops are out of the question-and for those of you who know me this includes skirts. my hair went wild as it enjoyed its natural waves and curls-it made me look like i had been electrocuted.

my first day was spent as the trip leader for a service project involving semester at sea students
and students from the srm engineering college. we went to the college to meet the students and the greeting we received was like we were celebrities walking the red carpet on oscar night. we were given jasmine leis, bindis on our foreheads and roses. the welcome sign was made of rice flour-i was amazed by the details and the bright colors of the rice flour. you will see rice flour designs all over india-the belief is that every life is important and must be nourished and this includes the ant who survives by eating the rice flour.

after a tour of the college, we boarded our bus and were taken to a government run high school so we could paint the inside and outside of the school. we were told that the children at the school would never finish school since they would have to quit to sell vegetables, or beg, on the streets in order to provide for the families while their fathers got drunk all day. painting a school is india is quick since one definitely does not have to wait for the paint to dry :) we applied the primer coat and within one hour a group came behind us to apply the paint coat. as we painted, the students yelled to us from their classrooms and when we waved at them they smiled, laughed and cheered. eventually the students were allowed a break to visit with us-it again felt like we were hollywood celebrities-shaking hands, signing autographs, and repeating our names over and over. the children clamoured to have their pictures taken and then giggled and ran away when we showed them their picture. it was a day filled with so many emotions-thinking you are making a difference as you are painting the school and knowing you didn't as you walk away.

the next day i ventured out into chennai unaccompanied but the safety, or air conditioning, of a semester at sea sponsored trip. you are harassed constantly by people wanting to give you a ride-even when you say no thank you you are followed as if you are attached to this person. once out of the port, it is a barter battle to find a rickshaw driver who will take you were you want to go for a fair price. the harassment continues until you come to a mutual agreement on the price- this process is like a boxer who keeps getting knocked down but gets up only to be hit again. even when you do agree on a price you are constantly negotiating the price since it changes as you make your way to your final destination. it also a battle of the wills when it comes to the driver wanting to take you to shops where they will get points for you going in. these shops are overpriced and usually contain items you would not buy.

driving in a rickshaw is an experience that can not be described and have anyone else truly understand it until they too have experienced it! your ears take a beating from the constant and consistent horn honking and you wonder if you will make it out alive. you are so close to other rickshaws and cars that you can literally see the eye color of the person in the other vehicle. the buses are so jammed pack with people that it looks like sardines in a can with their arms and legs hanging out.

my adventure included two of the living learning coordinators-andrea and kate. our initial trip was to the vma studios where we hoped to become extras in an india movie on bollywood. the studios can not be compared to mgm and are so drastically different we thought they had been abandoned. after walking in a square for five minutes we were stopped by the guard who motioned us into a building where we observed several men building a structure of some sorts. we later found out that it was a set being built for a fight movie that the was scheduled to start shooting on monday-we had missed our big chance to become stars by three days!

after leaving the vma studios, and again struggling for the fare we had settled on when we left the port, we ventured to elliot's beach because kate wanted to have her palm read by a parrot :) we arrived to the beach on to discover that it was like a ghost town due to the fact that it was high noon which is the hottest time of the day.

we got back in the rickshaw, after negotiating again for our originally agreed upon price, (and no we had not changed our minds about going to any shops on his list) we were now off to a performing arts dance school where the lonely planet book assured us we would get to see students performing the art of indian dancing for free. after surviving another round of frogger on the streets of india we made it to the school only to learn that the performances for the day had ended at noon.

it was then decided that we would visit a temple on our way to lunch so after yet another round of negotiations we were off. we arrived at the temple only to discover that the temples in india close at noon and do not open again until four in the afternoon. we were able to take pictures of the outside of the temple.

having struck out three times, we decided to get lunch at discuss our options. our rickshaw driver continued to pester us about stopping at the shops on his list and when we refused he wanted to charge us more. after much tension and frustration we agreed to go to a restaurant of his choice-kabul. the food was amazing-it was so spicy that andrea and kate were sweating bullets, wiping their noses and drying the tears in their eyes.

during lunch we laughed about the bad luck we were having with our adventure so far, how to change our interactions with our rickshaw driver and what to do next. we decided we would visit the vtm to do some shopping since it had been recommended to us by the interport lecturers from india. lets just say our luck at the vtm was following us as we soon discovered that everything in the store was bigger than our ship and the prices were not only fixed but ridiculously so. we left there and finished the day at the spencers mall. remind me to tell you about the abc wall hanging that andrea bought for her niece and nephew.

i spent my third with sarah (living learning coordinator) and her partner nate-i did not venture far since i was on dean duty. we spent most of the day at citiycentre (a very very americanized mall) before we ended up at spencers.

my fourth and fifth nights were spent in a dalit (untouchables) village where the people in the village had never seen foreigners. prior to arriving at the village, we spent the morning and afternoon at the delta school of nursing where we were treated to dancing and singing but the school children and nursing students. we had another amazing lunch-not as spicy as the restaurant but when one is eating authentic from india there is no complaining involved. after lunch the sas students learned how to play throwball-i will explain it to you when i see you but lets just say that the nursing students take their throwball very seriously and man can they throw the ball! i had my first green coconut-it is supposed to be good for your digestive system but i think i'll pass.

we finally left for the village around four thirty and arrived a little before six. we were again greeted as if we were celebrities. as we got off the buses (29 of us) we had three to four men playing drums and we spent the next hour or so being paraded through the dalit village. we wold stop every so often as stand still as a woman of the village held a bowl of water with red spices in it and created a little flame by lighting three little white sulfur beads sitting atop a leaf as it floated in the bowl. after waving the bowl over our bodies, the woman would reach into the bowl, touch the water mixture and the dab it on the center of our foreheads. then she removed the leave, with its flame, placing it in front of us and pouring the water across the path were walking on. we must have completed this ritual between fifteen and twenty times before we were led to an area where we were treated to singing, dancing and fire acts for the next two to three hours. by the time we were led to a school across from the village, to sleep on the concrete floor for the night, we were tired, hungry and hot. before calling it a night we were asked to participate in an indian meditation in order to reflect on the day's events. we were each given a clay bowl that was lite and as we focused on the fire in our clay pot we were asked to think about the images, ideas and inspirations that came up for throughout the day. after the meditation we placed the clay pots in a circle in order to notice that "when the pot was in our hand it was alone, an isolated entity" but "when we brought them together they shone beautifully and lit up more space-when we join our energy together and work together, when we are united we can work together to achieve many things to make this world a better place to live." i can not even begin to tell you how this experience moved me, changed me, made me look at me privilege and humbled me.

the untouchables are so named because they are seen as the people outside of the four castes system and are considered below the other people of india. in an effort to liberate the dalit people from the oppression of the current caste system the term dalit was created-it means to split or crack open. the dalit people see this term as an expression of hope, the hope of recovering their past self-identity.

i had some mixed feelings about my experience as i saw children running around without clothes, no running water, no electricity and no means to dispose of waste and yet there were people of the village talking on cell phones and riding around on motorbikes.

okay, i know this blog is long and you have probably left and come back several times in order to finish reading it so let me just finish with one last story.

while i was in a store with my head down looking at postcards and indian woman approached me and when i looked up she apologized for interrupting me but she thought i was her aunt.

while i was in india i was not treated as a minority until i spoke. i was able to go into stores with other americans and observe them being stared at, or followed, by store employees as i moved about freely. what an incredible, speechless experience this was for me.

port louis, mauritius

well its only been five days since my last blog and i have a feeling the blogs will come quicker as we begin to spend more time in ports than at sea.

today is monday, march 2, 2009 and we left port louis, mauritius four days ago. we were in mauritius for one day. mauritius is a gorgeous island filled with beaches you only see in vacation magazines. the water is multiple shades of greens and blues and the sea life is a rainbow of colors-unfortunately i did not have time to snorkel.


i had no idea that the dodo bird really existed-i always thought it was something you only saw on the flinstones but the dodo bird
was big in mauritius.

mauritius has a population of 1.2 million people and the island is filled with tons of diversity-french, indian, creole, chinese, dutch and the list goes on. 52% of the people are hindu, 28% are christian, 17% are muslim and 3% are other.



i spent the day at the beach-trou aux biches before heading to the local market in town. i must admit right here and now that i spent the day with the witwer-dukes family AGAIN! however, in my defense, this time i asked other folks to join us. :) we arrived at the beach without getting lost and when we walked to find a lunch location we only walked around the corner from the beach. i know you can't believe it, because neither can i, but we did not get lost once while we were in mauritius-not sure if it was because we had other people join us, we only had one day in mauritius or because we were on an island. as i swam in the indian ocean, enjoying the eighty degree water temperature, it hit me that i was actually swimming in the indian ocean-i never would have thought i would be swimming in the indian ocean!

as we left mauritius, the sea olympics began with the opening ceremony that evening. my sea was the brown sea (i know, that ain't right) sea olympics if filled with a day of events in which students, staff and faculty compete against each other in volleyball, relay races, poker, pictionary, photo scavenger hunt, spelling bee, tug-o-war, workout relay, paper boat float, hula hoop, dodgeball, twister, mashed potato sculpting, human knot, limbo, flip cup, m&m find and synchronized swimming. i participated in the paper boat float and the mashed potato sculpting and even though we did not win a medal in any of those events, in the end the brown sea tied for the bronze. our mascot was the ups man-"what can brown do for you" and our cheer was, "we are the shit!" although we had to change it at times when the children on the ship were around. we were the only sea that had our own tshirts with arabian sea written on the front and all the students names written on the back-our tshirts were even brown! the sea olympic captains on my sea were amazing-they order the tshirts on line (we got them when we arrived in cape town) and they held three sea meetings to make sure we had enough participants for each event. i still think our mashed potato sculpture of a lion should have taken the gold :)

we are now on our way to india and should be arriving there on thursday morning. yesterday we were in a part of the indian ocean known as the horse straits-when the ship would not move they threw horses over the side to lighten the load and if that did not work they threw slaves over. can not even describe to you how i felt when i heard that tidbit of information.

last night the faculty and staff spent some time as a wine tasting social in which we tasted eight different wines from south africa. a crew member (mehmet) of the mv explorer shared with how to taste the different wine with our senses by looking at the color and clarity of the wine, smelling the wine and tasting the wine.

i have been a little busy with conduct over the last few days talking with students about possession of alcohol on the ship, dock time, disrespectful behavior towards staff and crew and use and abuse of alcohol. overall, the students are still doing great!

for those of you in colorado, we are now 12 hours and 30 minutes ahead of you. we had to add 30 minutes to our clocks in order to be on the same time as india.

today we passed the equator again! (except this time is was at an angle)