The Indian Ocean

March 5

        Greetings from somewhere off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka! We have been at sea since Monday and are set to arrive in Chennai tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  The Indian Ocean has literally been like glass (for those not nautically inclined that means there are hardly any waves and the water surface appears like a sheet of glass), which has made for an incredibly smooth journey without any noticeable rocking.  Last Monday we were making almost 30kts an hour, which is a pretty rare occurrence.  The next morning at around 7:30am the captain made an announcement stating that we had been rushing to a remote military island in the middle of Indian Ocean in order to evacuate two students who needed medical attention (I also heard that a crew member was evacuated, but that is not official).  The students were suffering symptoms from pre-existing conditions, and the latest report is that they were successfully airlifted from the military base to Singapore and were recovering well.  However, they are not expected to rejoin the voyage, so I’m not exactly sure what their condition is.  The military base is named Diego Garcia and is currently one of five locations that help keep the US military’s GPS running.  It is the only “black” location, which I don’t really know what that means, but as soon as we entered their restricted waters there was a flotilla of marines carrying machine guns in about 6 zodiac crafts constantly circling our ship.  We also were not allowed to take any pictures.  The whole process was rather exciting and we are probably in a very, very small group of non-military people who have ever seen the island. 
        So that was the excitement for Tuesday morning and other than a slight head cold that kept me resting in bed more than I would have liked, the past few days were a pretty “normal” week at sea.  On Thursday night we had a fellowship service that was attended by a lot of students, of which about 7 was their first time.  It was very encouraging and again I am blown away by how God has blessed me with a great community of believing brothers and sisters and the opportunity to worship Him no matter where I am on the globe.  After the service the ships crew turned off all of the exterior lights and let the students go out on the top decks to star gaze.  I don’t know a lot about different star formations or anything like that, but you didn’t have to be an astronomer to be in awe of the night sky.  It was incredible to lie on my back, have a deep conversation with one of the new kids at the fellowship service about faith and life, and be mesmerized by God’s universe.  Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night.
        Anyways, tomorrow we arrive in India and as tradition has been so far on this voyage, I’ll try to give you a rough itinerary:

Sunday: I am attending a street theatre performance for one of my classes.  Kinda bummed about not having the day free to explore, but it should be a fun experience and I know a few friends on the trip.
               
Monday: My only free day in Chennai.  Hopefully I can take a bus into the city and get lost for a bit.  I also want to see some of the temples in the area, but I am really trying to leave that day plan-free so adventure can pop up.
       
Tuesday: My SAS overnight trip starts today.  I fly to Delhi and then on to Varanasi starting at about 3 in the morning. In Varanasi we are going to a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu temples and some museums.

Wednesday:  We wake up way early in the morning and board a small sailboat for a sunrise trip down the Ganges River, which I am incredibly excited for.  Then we fly back to Delhi and spend the rest of the day exploring Delhi.

Thursday: Again we wake up ridiculously early and board a train to Agra, where we hit a few temples and forts and then the Taj Mahal.  Obviously I am excited for this.  Then we take the train back to Delhi.

Friday:  Today we wake up really early again (shocker) and return to Chennai. We are scheduled to be back on the ship around 1pm, so I probably wont have any time (and will be ridiculously tired) to go back out in Chennai to explore before on-ship time. 

So that is the plan for India.  Should be fun.

Just tryin’ to blend INdia,

-Ben