It's been a little while

August 16 2012

Greetings!  I know countless readers have been waiting with bated breath for my triumphal return to the blog-o-sphere, and that time has arrived.  If you scroll down a little bit you’ll see a lot of writing about travelling and living on a boat and some other stuff like that – hopefully you readers actually know me and remember that I did Semester at Sea during spring 2011.  If you forgot, or are new to this site (welcome random internet users!) take some time and read about my experiences, or at least watch my movie – I promise it’s good stuff.

So that takes us to now, mid-august 2012, 15 months removed from circumnavigating the globe, one final year of college, a graduation, a quick missions trip to northern Africa last spring, a surgically reconstructed hip, months spent studying for the MCATs, and most recently a two-week cross country road-trip with a buddy visiting friends…….

I will be once again living on a boat. 

Now despite the obvious observation that living on a boat means I won’t have to change the title of the this blog, there are some other details that should probably be explained…

Three weeks from today I will be leaving for Greece to start an eight-week sailing trip around the islands of the Aegean Sea.  I know what you’re thinking – isn’t it time you get a real job or go to medical school or something?  Answer: yes.  But you’re also thinking what an awesome opportunity this is and how I would be crazy not to pass this up.  I know a want to be a doctor, and know I’ll make a career of it, so it can wait for a bit.  I also know I love Jesus and love making his name famous around the world (I’ll make my life out of this).  Some other things I love are sailboats and traveling around the world too, so when a friend told me about a bible school aboard a sailboat in Greece, I thought it couldn’t hurt to check it out.  Last summer, I emailed the skipper/director expressing interest in a job aboard and about 8 months later I was offered the position of deckhand and Dean of Students.  It wasn’t too hard of a decision to accept (Jesus + Greek Islands + sailing + no expenses = better than anything else) but I did seek the Lord in prayer and knew this opportunity was from Him.

So I invite you to stick around for the next few months and share in my adventures.  I’m realizing now how much there is to be said and explained, so look for those post in the coming weeks.  In the mean time feel free to check out some info on the sailboat: http://www.kingfisherproject.org and the parent organization for the bible school: http://www.torchbearers.org/.

Your Dean of Students,

-BG

Link to my movie

Anyone wanting to see some of my photos/videos from my voyage can check out the film I made here: Ben's Movie.  Other photos can be viewed on my facebook page.

Enjoy!

Back in 'Nam

          

March 25

Our times at sea have gotten shorter and shorter.  From Singapore to Taiwan we are at sea for 6 days and in port for 17 days, so basically there is a lot of travelling to be had, and not a whole lot of time to write about it.  I, of course, certainly enjoy travelling in country a whole lot more than taking classes at sea, but there is a lot of preparation, reflection and sleep to catch up on while at sea and not a whole lot of time.  Anyways, my final blog on India will again be delayed (probably until after Taiwan) but I’ll try my best to share about Vietnam and Cambodia. 

Saturday: Due to the tides, the ship wasn’t able to arrive until around 1100.  It was a lot of fun travelling up the river that morning into port, passing large container ships, ferry boats and a flotilla of small fishing canoes.  It was very similar to our travels up the Amazon and also reminded me of the river scenes in a lot of Vietnam War movies.  When we finally made it off the ship just before noon, we were confronted with the realization that Saigon is the motorbike capitol of the world (not an official stat, just a guess).  With the attitude “When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese,” we hired motorbike drivers, hopped on the back and took off into the city.         

            Our first stop of the day was at the tailor’s shop.  I have never had a custom tailored suit before, and going with my Singaporean theme of acting more wealthy than I was, decided I might as well take advantage of quick and inexpensive suits.  Sure enough, Sunday night I was back at the tailor’s picking up my 2 suits.  I don’t know much about clothes, but the suits fit great, look great and certainly seem to be high quality, so I think it was worth the money.  After our suit experience, we had our drivers take us to local restaurant for some authentic Vietnamese lunch (not sure what I ate but it was pretty good) and then on to Ben Thanh market, one of the largest markets in Saigon.  We knew from the vendors right outside of the port that we would be able to buy a lot of brand name items for a low price, and Ben Thanh certainly confirmed that we could buy North Face, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Lacoste, Gucci etc… for cheap.  Again, I’m no clothes expert but buying a North Face backpack (even if it is probably fake) for $8 is a pretty good deal.  We also went to the Russian Market, where I got a North Face rain jacket, Saigon square and the Tax mall where I was to stubborn to pay the extra dollar or two the vendors were asking and walked away from a lot of good deals.  After a nice 60min full body massage (no happy ending), which left me feeling refreshed and smelling great (the lotions they used were awesome) about 10 of us went out to this huge Chinese restaurant for a family style meal.  The food was really good and pretty cheap and it was fun just taking my food from the heaping plates in the center of the table.

            The nightlife in Saigon is incredible, and Saturday night we ended up at this venue called “Acoustic.” They had live bands covering American songs and it was honestly some of the best live music I have ever heard, especially for free.  It was an absolute blast dancing with the locals (Vietnamese women are gorgeous) and singing along with the bands.  At the end, the owner let us up on stage to sing a few songs, which was a lot of fun and a great way to end the night.

           

Sunday:

            Sunday morning I was able to get a free ticket for an SAS trip to the Cu Chi tunnels.  The Cu Chi tunnels are a network of tunnels and underground bunkers, which the Vietnamese used to fight the Americans during the War.  It was definitely an eerie experience visiting the tunnels, since it was essentially a monument of the Vietnamese ingenuity and success in killing American soldiers.  We visited the bunkers and were shown how Bobbie traps were made out of bamboo spears, how undetonated American artillery shells were transformed into land mines and grenades, and how spikes were placed in the grown covered with fecal matter that would infect the American troops when they stepped on them.  There was a monument to a young girl who was a “American Killing Hero,” for her bravery in gunning down GIs and an American tank that was destroyed by a homemade landmine.  I couldn’t imagine going through the Cu Chi tunnel compound if I had a more personal connection with the War or knew someone personally who had served in the military during that time. 

            The actual tunnel aspect of the compound was very impressive, and I am proud to say that I completed both the “tourist” tunnel (slightly enlarged) and the original Vietnamese tunnel.  Although I was on my hands and knees and had to bellow crawl for portions, I made it through the 50-meter tunnel section, in near pitch black darkness, 20 feet underground with hardly enough room or air to breathe.  To celebrate this amazing feat of squeezing a large object into a small space, I went to the shooting range at the compound and shot an AK-47, a fitting reward.

            After the Cu Chi tunnels, we were back on the ship for lunch, and then out into Saigon again to stop by the markets (I bought a lot this time) grab some Pho for dinner, and pick up my suits.  We stopped at a country western bar that happened to have a Vietnamese pop band covering 90s American rock songs, which was one of the more impressive conglomeration of culture I have experienced on the voyage so far. It was a packed day, but a lot of fun and also a great educational experience.

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May 25^th

So… this is where procrastination rears its ugly head.  I finally am writing about my time in Cambodia (the previous section on Vietnam I had written on the ship, and just hadn’t posted it online).  It has been a full one month and one day since I disembarked the ship in San Diego and I would guess around two months since I was actually in Cambodia, but I guess the saying goes, better late than never.

            On Monday we left in the morning for a flight out of Saigon and into Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. After clearing customs at the airport, we met our tour guide and took a bus through the capitol to the national museum containing various religious artifacts and statues.  It was pretty cool.  Next we took a riverboat cruise down the Mekong River.  The river has great views of the various ornate government buildings as well as “floating villages” where people live and work on houses and boats floating off shore.  After the boat tour, we headed to Palm Tree Orphanage, an orphanage founded and staffed by primarily SAS alumni.  Unfortunately, we were only there for around an hour, but that gave a friend and me just enough time to “adopt” an orphan and have him show us around his home.  I’m pretty sure the kid had some learning and developmental disabilities, since he couldn’t really communicate with us, but we decided to name him “Mambo” and pretend like we had been friends for years.  Seeing orphans, especially, in impoverished developing countries always leaves quite an impression on one’s psyche and perhaps worldview, whatever that may mean. 

            After the orphanage visit, our group had an authentic Cambodian meal (the lemon grass soup was memorable, in a good way), and made our way to our hotel.  Again, SAS had put us up with overly nice accommodations, but I won’t complain.  Some friends and I headed back into the capitol on the backs of Tuk-Tuk, the local equivalent of an Indian rickshaw.  The nightlife of Phnom Penh is pretty famous, both for some bars frequented by famous journalists and celebrities, and for the Russian sex slave and drug trade.  We decided it would be best to experience just the bars, and leave the drugs and sex, although I was offered heroin for one of the few times in my life (I politely declined). 

            Tuesday morning, we headed to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda compound.  The architecture and adornments were absolutely incredible.  The Khmer empire was one of the largest and most powerful in SE Asia back in the day, and their buildings certainly are a testament to their wealth and opulence.  The Silver Pagoda (so named because the floors are silver – seriously) contained a life size statue of Buddha made of solid gold and covered in 9584 diamonds (I wikipedia’d it).  Right next to it was a box asking for donations for Cambodia’s orphans.  I don’t even want to guess how many orphans would be helped by selling just one of the 10,000 diamonds, or one of the silver floor tiles – but I guess that’s essentially how most governments operate. 

            After our visit to the extravagant palaces, are next destinations were the Toul Sleng Genocide Muesum and later the Killing Fields.  I’m hesitant to write about these experiences, partly because it would be impossible to justly describe the atrocities of these locations, and partly because I’m not exactly sure how to verbalize my reactions to them.  I remember in high school doing a project on Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge and the genocide that took place in Cambodia just over thirty years ago and thinking how was it possible that most people, even educated people, are oblivious to this terrible period in human history.  The Khmer Rogue straight up brutally tortured and executed millions of people.  MILLIONS of people died at the hands of an ideological psychopath thirty years ago, and most people don’t even know it.

The genocide museum was originally a high school before the Khmer Rogue turned it into a prison/torture camp.  I’m not really sure how to describe it, other than it was not pleasant to look at the torture devices, or chains, or pictures of dead inmates, or read the signs explaining how prisoners were tied upside down until they passed out and then dumped into a vat of fecal matter to wake up, so the process could be repeated.  Our tour guide lost his parents and aunts and uncles at the hands of the Khmer Rogue.  He wasn’t emotional until one of the four former prisoners to actually escape the camp and live, showed up.  It was an impactful visit, and I remember feeling sick, physically sick, at what I was looking at.  After the genocide camp, our group visited the Killing Fields.  The name aptly describes what took place there, and again, its tough for me to describe it.  A surface level explanation would describe the tree that guards would throw babies at to execute them, or the pits in the earth that were filled with thousandths of bodies just a couple of decades ago, or the shed that held the chemicals to cover the smells of the rotting bodies, or the station where a loudspeaker was positioned to drown out the screams of the dying victims, or the monument of skulls, or the walking path where bone and teeth fragments still wash up to this day, whenever it rains.  A deeper explanation might describe the mixed of confusion, sadness, anger, pity, sickness, and the unavoidable screaming question of Why?

We left the Killing Fields and headed to a local lunch and some time at the market.  I got a nice Rolex (definitely a fake, but not as fake as the other fake Rolexes I have) and was able to convince some one trying to sell me a fake iPhone that I should test it first.  This resulted in a good 15min phone call home costing about 5 bucks, not bad for being on the other side of the world.  Next it was on to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap.  Fortunately, I was afforded a little of bit of time to process my thoughts and rest before our arrival.  Siem Reap is mainly a tourist destination and houses the famous temples of Angkor Wat.  After checking into our hotel and taking a quick swim in the pool, we headed to a “cultural dinner” which was pretty touristy and just consisted of a massive buffet and some dancers up on stage.  Later that night we took some Tuk-Tuks downtown to check out the nightlife.  Just like Vietnam, it was very impressive and a lot of fun (I was also offered heroin again, but declined – thanks DARE).  On our way back to the hotel that night we stopped at a massage shop where they had big tanks filled with tons of little fish that eat the dead skin off your feet.  I think it cost us each a dollar for a 15min session, although the first 8mins or so were basically spent with all of us attempting to overcome the uncontrollable urge to laugh and pull our feet out as induced by the tickling sensation of hundreds of fish picking at your feet.  By far one of the coolest/strangest things I have ever done.

Wednesday morning we were up real early to head to Angkor Wat (collectively all of the temples are referred to as Angkor Wat, but Angkor Wat also happens to be the main temple of the larger compound).  The temples were built on a North/South gridlines and Wednesday happened to be the equinox, which basically means that it was the best day of the entire year to watch the sunrise directly behind the largest spire of the main temple.  When we first arrived, it was obviously still pretty dark, meaning we didn’t quite get the full effect of how incredible the temples were, making the whole experience a little eerie/awesome.  I made one of the best decisions of my life that morning, when I walked up to the main temple in the barely there morning light, hopped over one of the fences and explored the temple by myself.  I pretty much felt like Indiana Jones; alone in one of the world’s greatest ancient temples, hopping security fences, climbing along the walls, discovering the ark of the covenant (maybe not) – but it was pretty cool.  I made it back out to the rest of the group for the actual sunrise, which of course was incredible and perfectly aligned with the temple. 

After sunrise we were back at the hotel for breakfast and then back to the Angkor Wat (the main temple) for a few hours of exploration.  We also visited the temple of Ta Prohm temple, where archaeologists have decided to let the massive roots and trees seemingly growing right of the ancient temple stone remain.  I felt like I was on the set of a Hollywood movie (they filmed some scenes of Tomb Raider here. That’s how Angelina Jolie got into the whole adopting Cambodians thing, I’m told).  We went back to the hotel for lunch and a little bit of free time.  During the free time two friends and I walked to a massage parlor to enjoy some cheap massages – hilarity ensued.  I’m not the kind of person who likes to be touched a whole lot, and am definitely very ticklish, so when my masseuse found out that by tickling my feet and butt, I would laugh hysterically, it made for a very uncomfortable and funny 45mins.  Add to this the fact that my two friends were lying on the ground next to me also getting massages (not sure why they had us all in the same room like that) and the fact that we were all clothed just in underwear.  The climax to this comedic experienced occurred when I essentially crushed my petite Cambodian masseuse when she attempted some sort of wrestling move to crack my back (a fitting punishment for her tortuous tickles). 

After not feeling relaxed from my massage, we returned to visit the Bayon Temple, again absolutely incredible.  Collectively, Angkor Wat is the largest religious complex in the World and its rather unimaginable that people constructed it almost 1000 years ago.  I was able to ride an elephant for a while between two of the temples, adding to the whole Asia experience and lengthening my list of modes of transportation I have used.  Our flight was delayed for a bit so we had the privilege of having another cultural dinner in Siem Reap before flying back to Vietnam and getting back on the ship a little after midnight. And that concludes my travel experiences on Semester at Sea.  

Finally finished!

-Ben

School = Done With! (at least for now?)

April 23

    That’s right, my academic obligations for the spring 2011 semester are officially doneskies!  Thursday I turned in my final paper around noon and was done with classes. Wednesday, I had two finals, both of which were really easy and the final paper, although long (17 pages single spaced!), was pretty easy.  Technically I guess this means I have completed my junior year in college.   I haven’t received any official grades except for my Global Studies class (A+) and unless I completely messed up on my other finals, I should be just fine as far as GPA.  But that’s honestly all I care to discuss about classes. I learned a whole lot from them, but compared to my program back at UMD, they were not a challenge in the least. To reward myself with a job well done on finals I’ve been taking a lot of long naps while lying outside on the deck the past few days.  After finals on Thursday we had our Royal Masquerade, aka the Alumni Ball. The ship puts on a lot of cool events like that for us, mainly because there is absolutely nothing else to do at sea.  For example, about a week ago, the ship hosted a charitable auction.  Items such as courtside tickets to a Laker’s game, weekend ski trips, muscle milk and Girl Scout cookies were all auctioned off to raise money for the SAS fund.  Other prizes such as Dean for a Day, first off the ship in San Diego and priority lounge chair seating on the pool deck were also on the block (SAS is actually designated non-profit so they rely a lot on donations to stay …  afloat!!)  I don’t think I have ever been to a live auction before and certainly hadn’t participated in one.  Unfortunately, I didn’t  have a lot of money or an overwhelming desire to purchase any of the items, so I didn’t participate except for attending and encouraging the rich kids around me to spend their money.  To give some idea of how crazy these people were, a box of Girl Scout cookies went for almost $150 dollars.  Priority lounge chairs (I have never had a problem getting a great seat on the pool deck) went for almost 500 dollars.  The privilege of blowing the horn on arrival in San Diego (how anyone would know who actually blew the horn is beyond me) went for close to 1000 dollars.  The last item up for auction was first off the ship in San Diego.  Two girls got into a bidding war with their daddy’s credit cards.  In the end, the first and second people allowed off the ship had to pay $1600 each (the person who gets off third is gonna be the coolest person in the world).  I’m glad the event raised a lot of money for SAS but it definitely made me think how someone with enough money for such frivolous things could not be heart broken by some of the extreme poverty and hardships we saw.
   The ship also put on the Vagina Monologues.  I lasted for about a third of the show before I had to leave from shear uncomfortableness and uncontrollable laughter.  That is all I will say about that.
   The Alumni Ball was fantastic.  The ship’s crew put in a ton of work, decorating, cooking, serving and catering to all of us.  It was a very formal and fancy affair as well.  Everyone was decked out in suits.  The meals were delicious, there was live entertainment and a long slide/video show of the entire voyage, and a dessert bar that was incredible.  Everything was a little too sophisticated for my humble upbringings, but once I had changed out of my suit and into shorts and sandal and the dance started, I felt a lot more at home.  Yesterday (Friday) was packing and “re-entry” day.  They had a lot of seminars on how to share your feelings about the trip, and how to deal with culture shock, and how to not cry like a baby – I was out on the decks all afternoon doing my part to soak up UV rays and prevent global warming, so I hope I don’t violently break down when I get back home.  But seriously, it is going to be tough to leave the ship that has become my home, my friends, and the experience of a lifetime.  As I started packing at about 3am last night and looking back at all the souvenirs I had got, airline stubs from all over, and Green Sheets from every country, I’ll admit I got a little teary-eyed (absolutely joking).  But leaving will be hard.  It’s sad and your mind kind of wants to always creep towards regrets from the trip, but I honestly don’t have too many of those. I probably will be on the ship for less than 24 hours at this point, and then life will resume.  I have been incredibly blessed with this opportunity and know that it has forever changed me as a person.  I’ll get more sentimental with you guys in a later post, when I’m not sleep deprived, but I am so thankful for the blessings and opportunities I have received.
Thank you for living vicariously through me.  It has meant so much to be able to share my experiences with family and friends through this forum.  I hope that you have experienced even just a fraction of the awesome journey I have been on.

Love Always,

-Ben

P.S – Yes, I still have not posted about Vietnam and Cambodia yet, but I’m a little occupied currently.

Hawaii (It's America!)

April 18th

And so it ends.  Well, almost at least.  As I was patted down under the watchful eyes of my favorite security guard Rufus, he reminded me that this would be the last time I would be getting back on the ship. The last time I would have to worry about being late for on ship time, the last time I had to have my bags search, the last time I had to swipe my card into the computer system, the last time I stepped on to what has become my home for the past 100 days.  And you know what? It’s kinda sad.  This journey I have been so blessed to be a part of is ending.  Hawaii was our last stop, and the next time I get off the MV Explorer I’ll be taking all of my belongings with me, closing the door to cabin 2034 for the final time.  But it’s certainly not all sad, and ill try to save most of the melancholy reflective writing until after I finish talking about Hawaii, because nothing was really sad about Hawaii except leaving.
        We actually arrived in Honolulu Hawaii on Saturday, but the cruel immigration and customs employees of the USA decided we couldn’t get off the ship, and instead had to sit in port, imprisoned with a paradise island all around us.  However, we were technically back in America, and that meant one thing: that our cell phones worked again!! Literally the ship went dead as soon as we reached port since everyone was on their cell phones instead of doing the normal activities we do to keep ourselves occupied while deprived of technology. A few hours of refueling in Honolulu (the ship got fuel, and I refueled by talking to friends and family) and we were off to the Big Island.  We arrived in Hilo the next morning around 8am, and after a patriotic and heartfelt production of the National Anthem over the loud speaker (I was the only one to yell “O!”) we were off the ship by around 8:30.  Several things were nice (and felt really strange) about being back in America.  Everyone spoke English, the US dollar was the main currency, the food and water was safe, and the traffic laws were American (duh).  You might be thinking how dumb I must be to be impressed by these normal American things, but you have to remember the past 100 days have been anything but normal and/or American.
        Myself and about a dozen other friends loaded into a couple taxis and left the dock for the airport to rent cars.  Apparently you can rent cars in America when you are 21, but unfortunately they don’t accept expired driver’s licenses (guess I can’t drive till I get a new one).  Fortunately, there were two other kids in our group who were 21 so we rented a massive Suburban (American, right?) and a smaller sedan.  After piling in we headed to Wal-Mart (not my choice) to get some food items, but mainly because people wanted to go to Wal-Mart.  We also stopped at a Safeway to buy some beverages for that night, and even though it was my first time (legally) buying alcohol the clerk didn’t ID me, which was really disappointing, but I guess a testament to my awesome beard and mustache.  Next we were off to our beach house about 40mins south of Hilo.  The house was really cool; secluded from any touristy stuff, right next to the ocean and some tide pools, and had Internet and TV (American television of course).  There were 3 bedrooms, which the girls divided up between themselves, and the five guys were left to fight for couch and floor space.  I ended up outside in a hammock, which definitely was the best decision.  The other thing that was weird was the house had a kitchen.  Literally, I think it was the first kitchen I had seen in a house since I left home in early January.  It’s tough to describe, and I know it sounds weird how I think it was strange to have a kitchen, but being in that house with my friends on the beach was so different than any other experience I have had on SAS.
        Later in the afternoon we drove down to Volcano National Park.  It had been overcast and drizzling all day, so we weren’t able to see any super great views of the park and the coast (and unfortunately there weren’t any visible lava flows) but it was a great experience driving and hiking through the old lava fields.  We also went to this huge lava tube that basically was a natural underground tunnel where lava used to flow.  The first half of the tunnel was lit, but the second half (probably about a quarter mile or so) was completely pitch black.  We used our ipods and phones to provide just enough light not to run into the walls, random boulders or low ceilings, but it was definitely eerie and maybe a little scary (in a really cool way) on the way down.  Once we reached the end and started heading back, we got a little confident, and would turn the lights off for a few seconds and then flip them back on to see what weird positions we had got into.
After the national park, we headed back to the house, and started grilling up some burgers and dogs (again, such a different experience than what we had been used to).   As I was out on the porch grilling, I noticed the moon was full and probably the brightest I have ever seen in my life.  I quietly slipped out alone and walked down to the tide pools, with the spot light of the moon illuminating my steps.  I climbed out on the lava rocks past the tide pools and to where the ocean waves were crashing and spent almost an hour just having a conversation with my Father.  I can’t even begin to describe how bright the moon, and how divinely awesome the sounds and silence of the water was.  Recognizing my friends probably thought I had drowned somewhere; I eventually went back to the house, wishing I could spend forever sitting on the rocks watching the water.  The rest of the night was a lot of fun; a rotation of hanging in the hot tub, watching sportscenter, and eating cookies from the oven, but remember, I’m still earning college credit.
I slept great in my hammock, listening to the ocean and rocking myself to sleep.  We woke up late and waited around for everyone to get ready (a drawback of traveling with 9 girls).  We made it back to the town of Hilo around 1300, grabbed some lunch and checked out some of the local shops (another drawback of traveling with a bunch of girls).  But Hilo really was a cool little beach town, and I’m glad we spent a few hours there.  Eventually we made it to a beach, which had a little bit of sand and a lot of really sharp lava rocks.  The rocks extended out into the water a pretty good distance, which of course gave us the opportunity to climbed out on them (barefoot of course, which really hurt).  We found a little ledge to jump off of into the ocean, and once we were in the water, we decided to swim out to the furthest collection of rocks and climb up on them.  The water felt great but was really shallow.  We were barefoot and since the sea floor was covered in sharp rocks and possibly poison coral, we basically had to float over this shallow water while occasionally being tossed around a bit by bigger waves.  We made it out to the furthest rocks, but since the lava rock was so sharp and uneven there we basically had to walk on our feet and hands to distribute weight and keep our balance.  Fortunately no one suffered any cuts, just a few scratches and sore feet to remind us of our adventures. We didn’t have too much time at the beach, since we had to return the rentals and make it back on the ship for the last time.
        And that was Hawaii, short on time but big on fun and good memories.  We just left port for the last time, and have six days crossing the rest of the pacific until we arrive in San Diego on Sunday.  A few finals, a big paper, a formal ball, lots of packing and even more goodbyes will keep me busy for the rest of the voyage.  Then it will be back to the “real world” although that expression certainly means a lot more to me now then it did a few months ago.  I’m neither super sad to leave or super excited to get back home, just content to go with the flow, although I will say I am already itching to plan my next adventure and think another full year of school is gonna drive me crazy until I’m free for at least a couple of years to do cool stuff around the world before med school.

Be Blessed

-Ben

Stuff I did while crossing the Pacific Ocean (or half of it so far)

April 15th

        Greetings from the Pacific Ocean!  We have been at sea for 10 days now, which has gone by surprisingly fast.  I thought I would take some time to update you guys about the past week or so and all the exciting things (slightly sarcastic) that have been happening on the ship.  Living on a ship is obviously a lot different than living on land, and “living” on a ship is also a lot different than “cruising” on a ship.  Fortunately I’ve found some ways to keep myself occupied.  For example, I have read several books, something unlikely to occur back on land.  I also watched the complete first season of The Wire in about 3 days, while not doing much else, an impressive feat.  I’ve been playing a lot of ping-pong, card games, and jamming with some friends on the guitars.  A soccer tournament and late night basketball games have also kept me busy.  The other night we had the final ship wide talent show, which you actually had to try out for.  I thought it might be funny if I shared my enthusiasm for ribbon dancing (just like Will Ferrell in Old School) with the ship.  I tried out without practicing at all (I also didn’t have any ribbons, but I guess the panelists still thought I was funny) and the judges decided I should be the opening act.  I managed to make some ribbons with an old set of bed sheets my cabin steward gave me, practiced for about 45mins, and threw together a “gymnast” outfit consisting of sweatpants and a blue lacrosse jersey.  The actual performance went pretty well I guess.  I think since it was all a joke (but my face was dead serious the whole time) it really didn’t matter how graceful of agile I was, in fact being bad at ribbon dancing probably made it even more funny.  I got a lot of compliments about it and everyone seemed to be laughing when I ended so I suppose I did a good enough job.
        Classes officially ended yesterday and now all I have are three final exams and one final paper, but I don’t expect any of them to be too much work.  All of my professors have been pretty fair and reasonable (and really easy) so I don’t think I’m gonna worry about taking naps outside on the decks instead of studying during our last week.  We had our last fellowship at sea service a few days back, which was pretty well attended and really encouraging to me.  I have noticed a lot of spiritual growth in myself as well as many other students who have been attending our meetings, which has been an absolute blessing.  My religion professor asked me to share a little about my faith in class, which was cool and another student wrote a poem that essentially explained the Gospel, which she shared in front of everyone at the talent show.  A voyage like SAS really challenges and brings to light everyone’s beliefs and faiths, religious or not, which makes an atmosphere with a lot of opportunity for dialogue and mutual sharing.  It’s around 80 degrees and sunny outside right now, so I think there is a lounge chair calling my name somewhere up on the 7th deck.  It’s a tough life, but it’s not like I’m going to be in Hawaii in a couple days to chill at the beach (actually I am going to be in Hawaii in a few days to chill at the beach). 

You’re my boy Blue.

-Ben

India

March 18 (finished April 14)

Even though we left India a week ago and I have been slacking in my blogging responsibilities, as promised I will talk about the things I did in India.  A couple of warnings about the following post:
1)      I did a whole lot of stuff in India, so this post might be a little long.
2)      I blogged earlier about some of my insights about India, so this post will be more descriptive than reflective in nature. 
3)      We are arriving in Vietnam in less than a day, and have already been to Singapore since India, so some of my memories aren’t the freshest in my mind, but ill try my best.

With the requisite warnings in place, I guess I’ll start my stories with our first day in India:

Sunday:  I was signed up to attend the Theru Kootu street theatre as a field trip for one of my classes.  Like most of the SAS trips I have been on (and the greater portion of my independent travels as well) I had no idea what to expect as we boarded the bus in the morning.  After about an hour drive, we arrived at what was essentially a large compound of traditional Indian building and open-air shops called Dakshina Chitra.  The place was basically an outdoor museum featuring traditional Indian craftspeople, architecture, music, food etc… It reminded me a lot of the Renaissance Festival back home.  When we arrived everyone was “dotted” with a Hindu talika, which I managed to keep on my forehead for the better part of the day before accidentally wiping it off.  After a boxed lunch from the ship, we had some free time to walk around the compound and browse the different merchants.  It was really cool to see the merchandise being created right in front of us, and since we were at a private museum, all of the merchants were very respectful and not pushy.  For the theatre performance aspect of our trip we had the pleasure of what was essentially a private showing of a portion of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata.  
        The performers literally had tens of pounds of makeup and costumes on, and essentially yelled all of their lines and songs in Hindi.  Since we sat just feet from the stage, I was honestly frightened by these crazy costumed actors yelling at me in a language I didn’t understand.  It was a pretty intense experience and I couldn’t even start to tell you what the plot of the 90 min play was.  A band accompanied the actors with traditional Indian instruments that were also loud and kinda intimidating.   I took some video of the show, which is really the only way to explain the seemingly chaotic performance.  After the show we walked around the shops so more, saw a glass blower make some amazing art, and got free Henna tattoos. 
        After the drive back to the ship, some friends and I piled into a taxi and drove off in search of an internet bar.  The interesting (read: annoying) thing about taxi drivers in India, is that their “family” owns a whole lot of shops, and that all of their “family’s” shops are on the way to whatever destination we happen to be going to.  In actuality, the shop owners pay the taxi drivers to bring tourists to their shops.  We weren’t aware of this fact the first night and so ended up going out of our way to visit this clothing store.  After that experience, we were always certain to negotiate beforehand with the cabbies and rickshaw drivers to not take us to any stops other than the ones we wanted.
       
Monday: Today was my only free day to explore India, so I met up with a few friends, hopped into a rickshaw and headed to T. Nagar market.  I think I mentioned in a prior post how crazy rickshaw rides were so I’ll spare you a repeat, but this ride was definitely one that will be hard to forget.  We were the only SAS kids (SASholes as some people call them) in the market at the time, which is always a rarity and very enjoyable. The market was basically like a strip mall with a lot of different stores.  Nothing was fancy or high class Indian, and it was fun to buy DVDs for less than a buck, look at fake sunglasses and Rolexes, and try to find clothes that actually fit me.  At the end of the day I picked up a few traditional Indian shirts (size 5XL) some silk scarves, Elephant statues, DVDs, key chains, and some other stuff I’m forgetting all for about 20 US dollars.  I went back to the ship for dinner and decided to stay in for the night and pack since I had a 3am wake up the next day. 

Tuesday:  Tuesday was a long day.  It started around 3am when I woke up, showered tried to eat a little for breakfast and met my tour group to leave the ship.  After about an hour bus ride, we were at Chennai Airport, which was actually pretty small, dirty and unimpressive.  Of course the toilets at the airport were just holes in the ground, with gripped foot pads on which you were expected to squat over I guess.  The airport in Delhi, however, was massive, clean, modern and most importantly had Western style toilets.  We arrived in Delhi and then took a connector flight to Varanasi, arriving there around 1200.  The 3.5 hours of flights allowed all the kids in my group, about 60 total, a nice nap, and would be turn one of the longer uninterrupted periods of sleep I would get over the next few days.  Our hotel in Varanasi was the Ramada Plaza JHV.  It was probably one of the nicer hotels I have ever stayed in and the dichotomy between having a bellboy constantly bring our group complimentary sodas and the street beggars just outside of the hotel gates was striking. 
        After some traditional Indian food at one of the hotel’s restaurants, we left on bus for the city of Sarnath.  Sarnath is an ancient city where Buddha was said to preach his first sermon to his followers.  We stopped at the archaeological museum, visited the ancient ruins of an old Buddhist temple compound, walked around a large stupa with hundreds of Buddhist monks, took our shoes off and meditated in a Buddhist temple, and walked around a sacred Bodhi tree from which Buddha gets his name.  Each one of these experiences deserves a lengthy response and reflection, but there simply isn’t time or space to do so.  I did take a lot of pictures, which I have looked at a few times to remind myself or where I visited, so I’m optimistic those memories will stick with me.  Next we travelled back into Varanasi and visited a silk factory where we had the pleasure or watching the artists on their elaborate looms.  Varanasi and some other northern areas of India/Pakistan are famous for their silks, pashminas, and other wools.  The silk artists we watched would spend up to three years on a single tapestry or blanket adding each thread by hand for months and months.  The patterns are memorized by the artists and passed down from generation to generation.  Therefore, each family has a unique and specific pattern or style that all of their woven pieces share.  After being mesmerized by the entire process, and resisting the urge to buy a whole bed set of hand woven silk sheets, we returned to the hotel around 2100 for dinner.  I was pretty tired from the days travels and activities, and with a 430am wake up call looming, I decided it would be best to fall asleep as quickly as possible, which really wasn’t that hard.

Wednesday:
The 4:30am wake up call came earlier than expected (well actually it came at 4:30 but you get the point) and we were on the bus a little before five to head to the banks of the River Ganges.  The River Ganges isn’t like anything I have seen before in my life.  I had to write about it for my World Religions class so I think I’ll just include my response in my blog:
        “We arrived at the banks of the river around 5:30am.  All the students in my group were a little bewildered by the shear unfamiliarity of the mass of canoes, tourists, half naked Hindu pilgrims bathing in the water, and the fact that we were all sleep deprived.  I probably was wide-eyed in amazement for most of our trip on the River Ganges, but I wanted to take in as much sensory information as I could and not forget a single moment.  I think that having some knowledge of the significance of what was occurring heightened my senses and really made me appreciate how fortunate I was to be able to have this experience.  We made our way down to the flotilla of large canoes, boarded one and started to float down the river about a hundred yards from shore.  At this point the sun was just creeping up into the sky, providing an incredible backdrop with which to border the temples, staircases and pilgrims.  Describing the actual practice of bathing in the river is rather simple.  Hindus would climb down the staircase, strip down to their underwear, enter the water and then completely immerse themselves several times. At least a few individuals appeared to lather up with soap and actually bathe in the river, but I am not sure if this was more religiously meaningful than a simple bath.  As we floated down the shore, we passed several dozen temples and their adjoining staircases.  Our guide stated that there were 84 of these temples in Varanasi, each perhaps catering to a specific deity or type of worshipper. 
        As we floated along in our canoe, merchant canoes would tender along side and attempt to sell various beads, statues and mini-shrines.  Some merchants were selling floating prayer candles, which several students bought, lit and then sent floating down the river.  The rising sun, elaborate temples, wide river and floating candles provided an incredibly visually pleasing experience.  As we made our way to the end of our tour, we passed the cremation area of the river, where bodies were being cremated during a four-day process.  It was certainly challenging and uncomfortable to see the stacks of logs and smoke rising indicating that a human corpse was burning just several feet in front of us, but it reminded me that almost any religion is sure to make certain groups of people uncomfortable.”
        After leaving the canoes we walked up the banks and unto the shore where we were told by our guide to stick close together and not get separated from the group.  This was good advice considering we were going to walk through the narrow and convoluting side streets and alleys in Varanasi.  The paths were so narrow that I could touch the sides of either wall by stretching out my arms.  This caused a lot of mini pedestrian jams whenever we had to pass a group of school children, an overly aggressive storeowners, cows, piles of cow poop (possibly other animal’s poop too) and a snake charmer with a few cobras in a basket.  The snake charmer was a particularly “Indian experience” and the entire width of the path seemed to be within striking range of the cobras.  Needless to say it was really fun to walk by the baskets of snakes.  After making it out of the side streets alive (I should mention that the police in India carry Ak-47s that look really old and kinda haplessly bounce around on the side of their bodies, making me wonder as we shuffled passed them how frequently misfires occurred) we headed off to the Hindu University and temple.  We drove pass the academic/religious buildings and dorms and then had about 35 min to walk around the main temple, barefoot of course.  We made it back to the hotel for breakfast and then were given the option of taking an hour nap or walking to a silk market before we had to leave for our flight.  Although I was ridiculously tired, I recognized that I probably would never have the opportunity to visit a silk market in Varanasi India, and with most of the kids in the group, we walked a few blocks to a relatively upscale two-story store.  When I say relatively upscale I mean that the store was air-conditioned and had cash registers, a huge difference from the street vendors and merchants we were constantly harassed by.  I bought a scarf or two, made of the world famous silk, and enjoyed trying to play some of the Indian instruments they had for sale.  Soon we were back on the buses and headed to the airport.  Varanasi is the world’s oldest continually inhabited city and saturated with unique culture.  As unfamiliar and uncomfortable as the city had been, it was an absolute blast and I was definitely sad to leave.
The flight was delayed for a bit and we didn’t arrive at the airport in Delhi until just before the sun went down, which gave me some time to buy a book and read for a bit while waiting in Varanasi.  The airport in Delhi was literally ten times the size of the Varanasi airport and certainly a lot more clean, modern and efficient.  I think the original plan was to have some time to drive around Delhi and look at the various government compounds, monuments and statues and then visit a temple, but since it was already dark out and traffic was bad we headed to the temple instead.  The temple was the Sikh Gurdwara and required us to cover our heads (the scarf a bought earlier in the day came in handy as I was much more fashionable than the SAS kids wearing the generic orange cap) and of course walk around barefoot.  Once inside the temple we were supposed to shuffle clockwise around this central altar/holy book holder (I honestly have no idea what it was).  There was a group of about 4 musicians blasting out the traditional Indian tunes and then a fancy looking guy sitting at the front of the altar who collected flowers from the worshippers and then waved this feather/fur fan thing around while muttering some religiously important stuff.  Once we circled the altar I found a spot in the back to sit and soak everything in.  I think this was supposed to be the area where Sikhs knelt and prayed, and after some scary looking guys with long swords sat next time, I didn’t want to press my luck and decided it would be best to leave. 
On our drive to the hotel we did pass a few important buildings, but it was too dark out to really get a good sense of their grandeur.  Our hotel for the night was once again incredibly upscale, and included a number a restaurants night clubs and banquet halls with traditional Indian weddings being held.  I explored for a little bit but once again, the next morning started at 4:15am and I wanted to be mostly awake and conscious when we visited the Taj Mahal. 

Thursday: Im not a big fan of waking up early, but I will say that it provides a lot more time in the day to get things done, and we certainly made the most of this attitude during our time in India.  Our room had a wake up call at 4:15am and by 5am we were at the station waiting to board our train to Agra.  The train station was very Slumdog Millionaire like; tons of people, a lot of dirtiness, little kids begging for money, older people begging for money, and the physically handicapped and disabled begging for money.  The actual train we were on wasn’t too bad though (at least our cars) and I slept most of the 2 hour trip.  I was actually kinda disappointed I slept during the ride since we passed some of the biggest slums in India, which would be hidden from sight when we returned later that night when it was dark.  When we arrived in Agra it was a relatively short ride to the Taj.  I’ll admit that the Taj Mahal has never been on my list of must see places in the world.  I ignorantly assumed that since so many people hyped the Taj up as the best thing in India it would be touristy and kinda like Disney World.  I’m glad to say that these notions were all proved wrong and the Taj was in fact one of the coolest places I have seen.  The entrance to the Taj doesn’t really allow you to see the mausoleum until you actually pass through the last gate and end up staring at the Taj in all its glory.  One of the more striking things about the Taj was how perfectly symmetrical and clean the architecture was.  Everything about it radiated magnificence and splendor.  Of course our only reaction to this type of site was too take tons of photos with us in them (Facebook profile picture photos, for those readers young enough to have Facebook, or at least young at heart).  The photos started off as simple stand and smile type, but quickly progressed into some more creative uses for the domes and towers of the Taj.  You’ll just have to wait till I post those photos to see what Im talking about. 
After the photo shoot we were able to walk through the main dome and see the casket of Queen Mumtaz Mahal.  I also was able to break off from the group for a little bit and explore some of the gardens and other buildings in the compound. 
        After the Taj we drove to Agra Fort, which was just in eyesight of the Taj.  Agra Fort had a ton of cool history and buildings. Some highlights for me were the immense marble throne, huge courtyards and massive wells.  It is definitely worth looking Agra Fort up on Google and learning about its history.  One thing I think I sometimes tend to forget in the states is our lack of ancient history and buildings.  Aside from some older Native American sites, nothing in America can compare to the humongous ancient temples, palaces and ruins we saw in India.
        After a quick lunch at a nearby hotel we drove for a bit to the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri.  This was unexpectedly (unexpected b/c I had never heard of it before) one of the coolest places we visited in India.  The compound was huge and only represented about 30% of the original size (the rest was still in ruins).  It was basically a maze of different temples, buildings stables etc… with elaborate red sandstone carvings on all the surfaces.  We were some of the only people there and took the liberty to climb on top of as many roofs and terraces as we could find.  Back in the day Indian people were a lot shorter than modern day Americans, and built a lot of the ceilings only 6 or 7 ft high, meaning it wasn’t too hard to climb up on.  It was a blast climbing until we found our way on the back side of the compound, trying to scale a wall while being yelled at by the police.  Since they were carrying Ak-47s that appeared to be made in 1951 we thought it would be best to try some more touristy things and keep our feet on the floor. 
        After our adventures in Fatehpur Sikri we drove back to Agra and stopped at a high-end rug and marble store.  It was kinda like hearing a pitch for a time-share condo.  The store owners let us in, served us tea and sodas, and did a well-rehearsed and scripted presentation on their one of a kind rugs and marble furniture.  The products really were incredible but a little too pricey for college students (No thanks, to a $40,000 rug the size of a coffee table.)  For dinner that night SAS had reserved us a very traditional Indian restaurant called Pizza Hut.  Maybe the only thing Indian about the Pizza Hut we were at is that the electricity would sporadically cut out every 10 minutes or so, but other than that it was a pretty American experience.  We took the train back to Agra and again had to deal with the reality of street beggars while we waited for around 30min at the station.  One particularly unforgettable instance of the horrors of children essentially be pimped out by adults involved a young boy no older than ten who was trying to shine shoes.  The boy kept following an SAS student relentlessly, trying to shine his shoes and make a couple dollars.  After about ten minutes of this unsuccessful haggling (the SAS kid had sneakers on anyways so he couldn’t even have his shoes shined if he wanted) the young boy went back to his “boss” a few feet away from us.  When the boss realized the boy didn’t have any money, he hit him in the face and shoved him back out to continue following the same SAS student.  I think the hopelessness of the situation really bothered me.  You couldn’t give the kid money because it would go right back to his boss and just reinforce the boss’ business, but denying him just made the boss physically abusive.  The look in the kids eyes and face was so desperate for rescuing; to be saved from the hellish life he was in.  I’m not sure why that instance was so memorable to me, because I have seen a bunch of really bad and evil things on this trip, but I really had the urge to just tackle the boss and beat the crap out of him.   I was actually awake for the train ride back to Delhi and had a great conversation with a friend about religion, philosophy and Jesus during the two-hour trip.  We made it back to the hotel late, and I was probably asleep before I hit the sheets.

Friday:  Nothing too eventful happened on Friday.  We got to sleep in a bit (6:45am!!) and then took a bus to the Delhi airport.  Due to traffic and some delays at the airport we didn’t make it back to the ship until 1530.  Originally I thought we would be back on the ship around 1300, and had planned to do a service visit to a YMCA, but with the delayed arrival and an early on ship time, I just stayed on the ship.  Also the port in Chennai was apparently “dangerous” either due to crime or industrial machines, and so we had to take a shuttle bus from the ship to the other side of the port where we would have to present out passports.  On the way back into the port we had to pass through three separate security checkpoints, present our passports and take a shuttle, so the whole process made leaving and getting on the ship very time consuming.

That’s India.  As I finish writing this, over a month has passed since we left.  On one hand it feels like I was there yesterday while on the other, it feels like years have passed. But that’s the sense I get for all the adventures on this voyage; time really doesn’t have much significance… which is why I don’t feel too bad about being late in my blog post.

Big Ups

-Ben