The USA.

ok...so I've officially been back for a week. We made it safely through the Bermuda Triangle and had rather somber arrival (on the ship side anyway - the parents that were there waiting were ecstatic)! It's been rather hectic and crazy, first Florida, then St. Louis, then Ames and now back to St. Louis.

My grandma passed away yesterday and I'm heading back for the funeral. I feel so blessed that I got to spend about 4 hours alone with her on Tuesday - I was so worried that she'd pass while I was at sea, but she held on for a bit. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers, especially my dad, his brothers and my grandpa.

We will return with the regularly scheduled programming next week, until then, there won't be any time.

Can't wait to catch up with you all - give me a call - the cell is back up and working.

A huge wake up call.

So...I just realized this morning that we are now officially on Eastern Standard Time. Auhgh!!! We're getting SO close! The students are finished with finals and today is filled with packing and convocation. We have to have our luggage to the second deck by 13:00 and then....let the tears flow - right? It's going to be a tough and emotional day. I'm posting because I'm, once again, putting the "pro" in procrastinating. Actually, I'm almost finished, and a little hesitant to finish.

See you soon. Maybe I'll be able to catch up on the blog finally! Don't worry, I've been making notes and definitely won't forget anytime soon.

The Triangle.

Um yes, the end to our trek around the world is a nice sail through the Bermuda Triangle. Just in case we become part of the myth/legend of the triangle, know that I love you all! The Captain seems pretty relaxed about it, but our exec. dean has quite a story from the time he sailed in '84. Everything was ok, but dang, kinda creepy. Here's hoping it all goes well! Some folks started to get a tad nervous tonight when we started hitting some rougher seas than we've had the past 2 days...it does add a bit of excitement around here. It's a rockin' tonight and is making packing a tad difficult!

"There is no end to the adventure we can have, if only we seek them with our eyes open." - Jawaharial Nehru

Well, we are in the middle of the 9 day stretch to get "home" (Florida). I can not believe this voyage is near completion and am starting to get rather sentimental (shocking, I know). I hate (hate, hate) good-byes, and tears well up when I so much as think about leaving my coworkers, students and the crew. I can't believe how much of a family the people here on the ship have become and I am so in love with the community that has developed. It's like saying good-bye to family members, many of whom I will (probably) not see again. Although I am so excited to see and talk to all of you, I honestly think that I'm going to go through some serious withdrawal when I leave these people!

This realization hit me hard this week during our passenger talent show. As I sat and watched such incredibly talented people come together and put on an amazing show, I realized how grateful I am for the way this community has learned to function as a cohesive unit. I love the fact that we have kids, college students, and adults of all ages, sharing such an amazing adventure. This voyage has been something that has touched each one of us in different ways, and none of us are, or will ever be, the same as we were when we first set foot on the MV Explorer.

There are various (and seemingly random) groups that have bonded together with common interests - folks that have made life-long friends - folks that have "adopted" students as their own kids and grandkids - folks that are scared to leave one another and face their own lives without the others. Unless I have the good fortune to work on this ship again, I would venture to say that I will never again have the opportunity to live and work in such a closed, self-sufficient community.

So many people talk about "getting back to reality, back to our 'real jobs,'" this has been so unreal that it's difficult to think and accept that this IS our reality right now - this moment! Maybe I'm not as eager to get back because the reality that awaits is new and very unfamiliar? I'm so afraid that I'm going to get back to the states and that this is all going to feel so distant, so unreal. There are so many emotions inside right now and I want to be able to fully experience them right in the moment. I don't want it all to feel like a dream.

Part of the reason that my blog is so far behind, other than the fact that I've had little time, is that I know I can never truly explain to you everything that I so desperately want you to understand. Seeing the countries has been great, but being on this ship has been just as wonderful of a learning and growing experience.

Right now I'm sitting on one of the side decks of the ship, enjoying a brisk evening with a nearly full moon shining over the water. I am dreading the snow that is abundant in Missouri these days and will really miss the peace and serenity that I find out here in the middle of nowhere, on the rare occasion I have an entire deck to myself.

We have been lucky for about the last 36 hours, as the seas have really calmed down. The first two days of this stretch were some of the rockiest we've had and I, along with everyone else, wanted to get off of this ship ASAP. Now that the seas have settled and the weather is nice, I could stay here for a long time.

Ok... so my goal in blogging tonight was to write you about the Myanmar port. I'm going to get to that now. I do plan to catch you up on all of them, but as you've noticed, sometimes I have to go a tad out of order. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!

Austria...

Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. They paid off! The student is doing very well, surgery was successful and she still has feeling in her legs! She will walk again! The docs are expecting a full recovery and she wants to run the Boston Marathon in the future! Still has a lot of pain, but it well on her way.

I was ordered out of the hospital today (by the student and her folks) and I ended up taking her dad to the Bellvedere. It is one of the Hapsburg palaces and it houses one of my favorite paintings. Last time I was here it was closed, but.... I got to see it today!!!! So excited! Then later I took her mom to my favorite resturaunt here in town at Stephensplatz. (Can you believe I was able to find it again Mom?!? Missed having you there though!) It was so fun to see both of them experience a new country for the first time and the student was glad I got them both out to see a bit of the city.

I fly to Spain tomorrow afternoon and will be meeting the ship early on Thursday morning. It's been so odd not being on the ship and I almost feel as if it has all been a dream. I'm sure I'll fall back into ship life quickly. =) I can't believe this is our last port and that I'll be back in the states soon...it's going to be so surreal.

Vienna, Austria.

Yes, you read that right. I am writing you from Vienna, Austria this morning. See, you really do have to question where in the world is Kate - it's no joke! Now, some of you may be quite confused as 1) you know that this country is not on the scheduled itinerary and 2) you know that it's a land-locked country and difficult (if not impossible) to get to by ship. So you're probably wondering why the heck I'm hanging out in Austria at the moment eh? It's good to be back here, I love this city, but not under these circumstances.

First let me start by saying Mom and Dad - I'M OKAY! Don't worry. Here's the situation. We've been in Dubrovnik for the past 5 days and, for whatever reason, many of our students decided that it was a good idea to go cliff diving off of these rocks just outside the walls to the old city. The place of choice was about a 50-60 foot drop into the Adriatic. I saw some of them doing this on the first day as I was walking around the city walls (which were even more beautiful than I remember from before). I was talking to another staff member when we noticed these students and was quite worried that someone was going to get seriously injured or killed.

Luckily, the latter did not happen; however, on our second to last day there one of my students jumped in and apparently hit the water badly. She has been diagnosed with a compression fracture in her lower spine. Ah. Bad news. She was taken to the Dubrovnik hospital for a night, had a CT and it was determined that the hospital there would not be able to give her the care she needed - they didn't even have strong pain medications there so she was in a lot of pain that first night. MedEx (our emergency health care provider) determined that the nearest/best hospital was going to be here in Vienna. There is some good news for her though - she has feeling in both legs, can move her toes and almost point and flex her feet! She knows that she is a lucky, lucky lady.

This is a student with whom I've gotten quite close this semester. When I went to go visit her in the Croatian hospital she said that she asked if I could go with her wherever it was that she was sent. I told her I'd go, but it wasn't a decision I could make - that it would have to be something that ISE/Bob V. asked me to do. I headed back to the ship and asked the physician (Dr. Bob) if he thought someone would accompany her. He said it was unlikely that anyone would be able to go, but said that I could ride with him back to the hospital later that evening. I went about my business for the remainder of the afternoon and then met him to go to the hospital. Well, we also met Bob V. (the exec dean) and the Captain (who is from Dubrovnik) and the good Captain drove us to the hospital in his car. =)

During this ride (about 1.5 hours before on-ship time) Bob V. turned around from the front seat and asked if I'd go with her to Austria so that she wouldn't have to be alone before her parents arrived. Naturally I said I would, and then found out that the ambulance fight was going to leave in less than 2 hours.

All of us went to her room when we got there (even the Captain took the time out to stop up and visit the student and drive me back to the ship to pack) before stopping to see his family one last time. Seriously, this guy is wonderful!

I got back to the ship and had about 20 minutes to pack and get things squared away as I won't be back to the ship until after the Spain visit. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but the annual students of service auction is during this four day stretch and this is one of my responsibilities. I had to pass on all of the info and wish my students luck. I feel really bad for having to leave them right before their major event, but know that they will continue the amazing job that they have done thus far and be perfectly fine.

I found Danelle, one of the other RD's, and bless her heart, she came and absorbed everything I had to get out - just a random fire of info. She then promised everything would be taken care of and I was off very quickly, I didn't have time to say good-bye to anyone but her and Rick, my supervisor.

I hopped a cab back to the hospital and met the student, Bob V. and Dr. Bob. Dr. Bob and I climbed into the ambulance with her and we headed off for the Dubrovnik airport. MedEx had a flight waiting there for us and, rather quickly, we were off for Vienna. It was such a relief to get into the plane as they had good pain medication for her and instantly she felt some relief - enough that she slept for most of the flight!!! YAY! (To the ISE staff that reads this blog - the MedEx folks that came were AMAZING! The care she received was beyond excellent and I was more than impressed.)

We arrived in Vienna at about 8:45 p.m. and took an ambulance to the hospital where we were met by some of the nicest people. It was such a relief for the student, as the care and attention was a tad lacking in Croatia. We had a long night of another CT scan and a barrage of questions and tests. By 2 a.m. we were both falling asleep and shortly thereafter were able to go to bed. The hospital was gracious enough to allow me to sleep here last night. They even made up an examination table with a sheet, blanket and pillow and I had a flat place to stretch out for a few hours. Not quite a bed, but good enough for a few hours sleep! I need to find a hotel room today, as they said it was a one night deal - they weren't even supposed to let me stay one night. I'm so grateful they allowed me to stay. I think it was because of the hour it was, the early tests that were scheduled and my limited knowledge of the German language!

I'm currently sitting in the waiting room as they do an MRI to see what kind of surgery she will need to have. I brought by computer and plug so I anticipate that I will be able to catch up on my blogging in the coming hours/days here at the hospital. I'm glad that I've already been to Vienna, as if it was somewhere new I'd be very antzy to get out and explore it. =) Here though, I'm content to kick back and hang out with this student, at least for now!

7 hours later....
Ok... now I'm not in the waiting room anymore, rather in my pension (nicer than a hostel, not as nice (or as expensive) as an actual hotel). It is just a few blocks from the hospital and in a good part of town. There's a money changing place next door (yay) and the retired woman that runs this place (Margaret) couldn't be nicer. We got the results from the MRI and the student will be having surgery tomorrow morning. She's (rightfully) pretty nervous. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Both of her parents should be here by the time she wakes up, if not before she goes in for surgery. The situation she's in is pretty scary, much less to be doing it in an unfamiliar place. Also pray for peace of mind with her family as they travel overseas (for the first time).

Narcoleptics unite.

So, one of my favorite things in Vietnam was that people tended to fall asleep anytime, anywhere and in any position. I felt right at home - many of you know I have similar tendencies. I was most impressed with the many folks I saw sleeping lying down on top of their motorcycles, an impressive feat of balance if you ask me!

The Mekong Delta, Vietnam

On our final day in Vietnam we headed out for another day trip through the same company as the Cu Chi Tunnel trip. I was apprehensive as to what the day (i.e. our group) would be like. It turned out to be a fantastic group and experience and there were even a couple (of the nice folks) from the day before on it with us.

When we arrived to the delta area we climbed onto this ferry that was to take us to an island. Now, I don't usually get scared on boats as I've spent a significant portion of my life boating on lakes, rivers and such, but this boat was an exception. I wasn't quite sure that it was going to make it all the way across the delta to the island. There were holes throughout and it definitely leaned to one side - I seriously thought we might list at any time.

We arrived on the island, walked a bit and then climbed into these low boats (similar to canoes) that also had a lot of holes in them. They were quite rocky and I felt very unbalanced in them so much that I didn't even take my camera out of the plastic storage bag in these boats. I think maybe my fears were hatched from a recent traumatic canoe experience (eh Hassan?).

After I reconciled myself with the rickety boats I managed to have a great time. They handed us these Vietnamese rice hats (you know, the triangle shaped ones) and I felt like such a tourist. We had a great time crossing though the little tributaries and seeing the homes and people of the Mekong Delta. At one point in the afternoon we walked to a little area where they made coconut candy (texture was similar to a caramel). At this spot we sampled some of the candy, listened to some local folk music and enjoyed some tea with honey.

After we got back to Ho Chi Minh we picked up my new pants and Joy's new dress, grabbed some street food for dinner and headed back to the ship for another fun-filled night of sailing - this time to Myanmar!

Three quick things.

1) Two days between ports is not enough.
2) We're porting in Croatia in a few hours.
3) I'll be back in the states in less than a month. (hang in there Meg - we can talk soon)

Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam

We decided to spend the next day in Vietnam visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels and decided to utilize the services of local tour company, although, by this point you should know how I feel about group tours. These tunnels were the ones that the Vietnamese used during the Vietnam War, or as it's referred to in Vietnam, The American War, for surprise attacks. The tunnels were built over a 25 year period during the fight against the French and were repaired back in the 1960's. It is a hand-dug tunnel system that makes up about 125 mile network. It is several stories deep, used no concrete or wood for stability and housed trap doors, living areas, storage, weapons factories, hospitals, command centers and kitchens.

This day was, shall we say, interesting. We left the hotel and hopped on our tour shuttle. We made one stop and picked up the rest of the group (about 20 in all - non SASers) and we all packed onto a teeny bus. I enjoyed the fact that there weren't any other Americans in the group. We got to meet folks from Russia, Germany, Australia, England, Austria, Sweden, Ukraine and Japan. One of the last people to get on was a Scottish guy (aprox. 25 years old) who smelled (and when I say smelled, I mean wreaked) of alcohol and cheap cologne.

The tour started and our guide was great - I knew we'd learn a lot from him, as he had actually been in the war, fighting against the communists. About 10 minutes into his intro, the Scottish guy yells at the guide and asks him to be quiet because he wants to sleep. Seriously? Seriously. He starts arguing with the guide, and the guide tried to remain calm, somewhat successfully. It got rather awkward on the bus, not gonna lie. The guide asked him (in front of all of us) if he's had anything to drink lately (um...duh). The Scottish guy admits that he had been at the bar since 8pm the night before and had just left to get on the bus. Great.

There's a reason we avoid traveling with groups... at this point I was thinking that we should have reconsidered the private driver to the tunnels even though it was more expensive. I knew the day would make an interesting blog entry for you and was curious as to what else would happen! The Scottish guy proceeds to fall asleep on top of the Japanese girl sitting next to him. Keep in mind what the Japanese culture is like from earlier entries (very calm and non-intrusive), who then timidly asks to move (where? remember, crowded teeny bus without an empty seat) and the guy sleeps there for the first half of the day. Here's what he missed. Glad you don't have to do the same.

We took the bus to the Cao Dai (pronounced cow die) Great Temple, the sects Holy See, which is supposed to be one of the most striking structures in all of Asia. We got to see Black Mountain on the way there, which is part of the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, it was difficult to be within sight of Cambodia and not go there as well. =) Ahhh... another time, but I digress. Caodaism is a very interesting religion to me and not one that I remember hearing of prior to this trip. It is (in a nutshell) a combination of the primary Asian religions (Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism) blended with Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Animism and Theosophy.There are many symbols/practices that represent each of these religions in, not only the structure, but also the service that we observed.


We had the opportunity to wander around the temple and the grounds and then got to sit in on their noon service. The guide had been really helpful on the ride out there (much to the objection of the Scottish guy) otherwise I would have had no idea what happened during the service or why people were wearing different robes and why they knelt in the places they did. The temple was built in Chinese-Vietnamese style and, as you can see, is multicolored and extremely ornate. The Scottish guy didn't get off the bus for this....stayed and slept.


En route to the tunnels we also stopped at a factory where the employees made art, jewelry, kitchen accessories etc. out of wood and an inlay of mother of pearl. The technique used was quite interesting and the employees worked under some fairly rough working conditions. (Yea...he missed this too.)

Our time at the tunnels was powerful. It was a hot and humid day and while we were traipsing through the forest to get to the tunnels and other sites it began to rain on us. There was a firing range on the site, so you could hear gunfire in the distance and it wasn't difficult to imagine what it was like to be here during the war. They showed us how the various traps worked and as we soaked it all in all I could think of was all of the vets from this war that I know. They showed us a video while we were there (which was total communist propaganda) and, not surprisingly, laced with anti-American sediments. It was completely opposite from the Hiroshima experience and our first blatant indication that we were in a communist country.

I don't know how the people of Cu Chi lived in these tunnels. They made some of the tunnels bigger for tourists to climb through, but this one you see here is the actual size.


I can't even imagine living and functioning in these small spaces especially in conjunction with the heat and humidity. I got claustrophobic in the tourist ones and couldn't handle the 100 meters that you could crawl through, luckily there was an escape every 30 meters. It was a long and emotionally intense day and I was grateful for the rainy ride home that night.

Istanbul, Turkey

I don't even know how to describe what I'm thinking now. It has been a difficult adjustment the past couple of days to be thrown into Eastern European culture, considering where we've been over the past few months.

I miss the unknown, as this is altogether too familiar. I don't think I'm ready for it! Turkey is on the downhill stretch of this adventure and I'm not sure I'm ready for it to be over. Two more countries and less than one month to go.

The Fishing Area of Mui Ne

On the way back from the sand dunes our driver stopped at the fishing area of Mui Ne. As we drove down the road to get there we were overwhelmed by the smell. It was all I could do not to "lose my cookies," shall we say, while we were in this region. It was a very pungent smell of fish parts, ocean, human waste, animals and more. To get to the ocean area and then back to the jeep we had to climb over piles of old oyster/clam shells. This is Joe walking over them. With each step we released more of the smell. Bleh.






The people would take these bowl-looking boats out to the big fishing boats and go from there.












What hit me the most is that there were huts along this area and people not only worked here, but also lived here. We met some of the nicest kids while we were stopped in this area and I couldn't help but wonder about the health effects of growing up in these conditions. The kids were excited to play with us for a bit and were really excited to see themselves on our digital cameras.










We didn't stay long, and although I would have liked to play a bit longer, I don't think I could have stomached it. It took everything I had for the time we were there. Seriously, words can't describe the smell, trust me. Our driver couldn't get out of there fast enough in my opinion and of course, it's all amplified when you're driving as the wind is like a brick wall in the face.

God bless the good Captain.

Well, we should be sailing to Turkey right now, but are currently detained here in Alexandria, Egypt. Last night, as we were boarding the ship, we were told to "batten down the hatches because it was going to be the roughest seas we've seen yet." There was a bit of excitement, as everyone was a little curious as to how bad it was going to be, but we were also somewhat nervous.

As we were getting ready to set sail, our Captain had to make an important decision. There were apparently some VERY rough seas in the Med. and he wasn't sure that we should sail through them or wait it out here in Egypt. The problem with waiting is that we don't know when it will settle down - could be days. He decided that it would be best if we didn't sail and reevaluate the situation in the morning. (PS it's now 1500 and we're still in port).

Thank God he made this decision. We found out this morning that there were two ships that crashed in the middle of the night due to the weather. Roman has been a great Captain, and I'm so glad he made the decision he did. Pray that he continues to make good decisions! This does mean that we are now in Egypt and confined to the ship (blasted), since the decision was made after the ship had cleared customs. It also means that our time in Turkey may be cut short, depending on when we leave.


This is me with Captain Roman (on my left/right side of the picture) and Bob, our Executive Dean. This was taken at the recent Halloween party. Bob went as the Captain (doesn't usually wear a white uniform) I went as "static cling" (notice the random red sock attached to my shirt) and Roman went as, well....the Captain. He's fun, but still business!

Egypt

Hi. So, I had to give you a quick update on Egypt, even though I know it's out of order. Bear with me. I'm currently in the business center of a booshie-lala hotel and have paid for 15 minutes of internet time to check my e-mail for some flight info. Well, it hasn't been sent yet and I can't postpone my internet time, so here goes.

Egypt is AMAZING. I seriously can't believe I'm here. I'm on on of the SAS trips and as we drove through Cario today, we could see the pyramids in the distance. Upclose they are even more amazing. Saw all of the King Tut artifacts that they won't let out of Egypt for tours! It was awesome! The people are wonderful, the sights, gorgeous and the smog, thick.

I'm going to watch the sunrise over the pyramids tomorrow morning and then heading off for Sinai tomorrow afternoon (I think) so long as the flights came through. Love you all!

Ummm....hi.
So, we just ported in Egypt. I can't get over it. I'm in Egypt. This is absolutely surreal. My goal was to have the blog completely updated by now, but alas, it hasn't happened. This week on the ship has been insane. I'm tired and worn out and I need a day off. =) However, I take off bright and early tomorrow for 5 days of Egyptian adventures. The itinerary includes Cairo, the Pyramids, Mt. Sinai, snorkeling and Alexandria. Whew. I won't be posting for awhile, as you can imagine. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers during our time in Egypt. As you're probably aware of, there have been some issues in the Luxor area lately. No, I'm not headed there, but a number of our students are venturing into that region. Should be ok, but you never know.

Mui Ne
Ok. This place was (hands down) amazing. This is good since we were told it would take two hours by bus when in reality it took five. After five hours of a crowded bus that honked its horn about every 20 seconds (not good for napping) we needed a good ending place! Mui Ne is a beach area along the South China Sea that is still very new in its development. Nam's family has been there before and had a great time. The best thing was that when ship folks asked Nam where to go, she sent most of them in the other direction (still a nice area, but far from where we were). It was great - we didn't see anyone from the ship at all!

Through the tour company we had booked the ride to and from, a night in a bungalow on the beach and a jeep (with driver) for the next day (this, plus our tours for the next two days cost a grand total of $50.) It was the off season, so we basically had the town to ourselves. I think we saw six other non-local people - not exaggerating. This place (especially in Oct) would make an awesome honeymoon location! Maybe someday... or, if you're planning one let me know - I'll give you details.

We spent the afternoon playing in the waves (which we huge) and warm. And the late afternoon reading a local paper in English while lying on the beach. It was SO relaxing. We were asked what we wanted for dinner that afternoon so that they could go get it fresh from the local market and that night at the patio restaurant right on the beach, we enjoyed the best fish and shrimp I've ever tasted! It was so good and we were literally the only 5 people in the restaurant.


Like many developing countries, there was a lot of extreme poverty in the area and it was difficult (mentally and emotionally) and very apparent when we crossed the line back and forth from the tourist area. We instantly knew when we had left the resort area of the town when we wandered around.

After talking with a number of the locals, it seems that this area is bringing a lot of money to the people and has been very good for a lot of the locals. There are a lot of Europeans that vacation here in the winter months and they are excited that more and more people are learning about it. Selfishly, I'm afraid that by the time I get back it will be all sorts of touristy, but it will still be nice. The woman that owned the resort grew attached to us and vice versa, we ended up sending her a picture of us there.


The next morning we met up with our driver and he took us on about a 45 minute ride out to the sand dunes.

At the dunes we got out of the jeep, walked through parts of them and went sand sledding.

We were all a hot mess by the end, but had a blast sledding down the dunes.
They were a lot steeper than they looked and really tough to get back up - but so worth it. After this we went to the Red Dunes and did a short hike there.
The dunes were all beautiful. It was so hot that day... thought we were all going to sweat away. We headed back to the bungalows, showered, ate some lunch and barely caught our bus back to HCM. I wouldn't have minded if we'd had to stay another day...not gonna lie.

Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon, Vietnam

This port has probably been my favorite thus far...keep in mind, as I write this we are in route to Egypt...so that's saying something - we're already halfway through the trip! I'm ready to go back to Vietnam anytime - just name the date! I apologize in advance if this is long! I'll try and break it up well.

A huge part of why I loved this port so much is the people that I travelled with (Nam, Joy, Joe and Gail) and the guidance that Nam was able and willing to provide. Nam's family is from Vietnam and she has visited many times in her life so she pretty much knew what we could and should spend our time doing. I learned so much about the Vietnamese culture just by wandering around with her and I am so grateful for our time in this port with her.

We had all had enough of the ship for a while and, since Vietnam is relatively inexpensive, we decided to fork over some of our hard earned paychecks for a hotel room each night we were in port. It was so nice not to come back to the ship and it really felt as though we had 4.5 days off. We stayed in Saigon for three of the nights and in Mui Ne one night. A distant relative of Nam's owned and managed a hotel in Saigon and she hooked us up with two great rooms, excellent hospitality/service and at only 15 USD (per room) a night, we couldn't pass it up.

I was a little nervous about venturing out into Ho Chi Minh, as we had been warned in pre-port and by the diplomat that walking across the street can be a dangerous thing. I have never seen more motorcycles/scooters and bicycles in my life. It was absolutely fascinating to stand on a street corner and watch the traffic whiz past. I have some fun video clips of maneuvering through the lines. We were told that the way to cross was to be bold, stay strong and don't hesitate. You basically just have to look straight ahead and barrel through, the bikes/motorcycles, buses etc. will avoid you. The lines that are painted on the streets are merely suggestions about where to drive. Most drivers don't even look at them, much less stay in them. We did manage to avoid and major disasters and only witnessed 2 crashes. I can't even imagine how many there are everyday. Also, most don't wear helmets... I was going traffic safety crazy. Also, I'm convinced that the first thing to wear out on any vehicle in this city must be the horn. It was almost musical! There were so many horns honking constantly. You had to learn to love it or ignore it - otherwise you'd go crazy!


After checking into our hotel, Nam took us to one of the main markets where we purchased some fabric to have some clothes made. Now, we weren't going to do this initially, but you may recall my blue pants episode in Japan. I was in need of another pair of pants, and because the price was right ended up having 2 pairs and a skirt made (I replaced the blue pants and now have a great pair of pink pants too). We had to get these orders in to the tailor so that they would be ready by our last day in port. Gail ended up having a suit and a dress made and Joy did a dress as well. It was amazing. They measured us all, conversed with Nam about what we wanted and viola, four days later we all tried the stuff on, it was exactly what we wanted and nothing needed adjustments. Wow - and all three items (fabric and labor) were less than 25 USD.

After the tailor, we booked some travel arrangements. We had decided to go to Mui Ne for a night (the next) and come back for the Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnels. Nam took us to one of her favorite restaurants called (translated) Tasty Restaurant and boy was it. It was great, all outdoor, nice atmosphere and you could walk around and see what was being cooked... then you'd know what you were ordering before you ordered it. Sounds touristy right? Nope. It was mostly locals that were dining there! If you are not familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, go get some. It is SO good. Also, Vietnamese beer and fresh fruit juices are pretty darn good as well. I had only had Vietnamese food once before (with Kaili's family in Omaha) and didn't really remember too much about it, other than that I liked it.

Bamboo scaffolding

One thing I forgot to mention... everywhere we went in Hong Kong we saw bamboo scaffolding outside of buildings. It was awesome to see them tying the pieces of bamboo together and then scaling them to get to where the work needed to be done. I would often see folks not using a safety rope or anything - I was so afraid that we were going to see one of the workers fall right off! Luckily, they moved with amazing grace and agility and we didn't see any tragedies, but I'm sure they happen quite often.

Lantau Island, Sun Kei and the Biggest Bronze Buddha in the world.

On the last day in HK I ventured out on my first trip sponsored by Semester at Sea. As most of you know, I'm not much for traveling in big groups or going on organized tours, but for whatever reason I felt compelled to sign up for this trip. It was an interesting experience and fun to travel with students. We are not supposed to travel with students unless it's an organized trip through SAS for liability reasons. It was kind of fun to be with them as we all experienced new things together. Of course there were a few who could have left their attitudes at home, but that's to be expected I guess.

We headed out to Lantau Island, which is extremely beautiful! It has a lot of lush, green forest area, beaches and a number of Buddhist monasteries nestled in the mountains. Brian, Gail and Patrick had gone out there to camp and kayak the day before we got there and had an absolute blast. Eh... next time, I'll know to spend more time on this island!


Our trip took us across (what we were told was) the longest suspension bridge in the world to the island. We stopped for a break and got a few minutes to play in the waves of the South China Sea. When we were finished there we headed over to a tiny fishing village called Sun Kei.


This village was one of my favorite places that I've visited. The people were super friendly, eager to show us their fish wares and allowed us to take a small glimpse into their reality. Our bus guide was great about explaining things in and around the town and I definitely learned more than I would have had I gone on my own! The smell of this village was overwhelming and one of the most memorable things about it - especially right as we stepped off of the bus.


It was a very pungent smell of fresh, raw fish, stale ocean water and waste. It was particularly interesting to see the squatter homes, as I had learned a lot about the role of this life on the HK people through the museum on the first day.



We left the town then drove up the mountains and went to the largest bronze Buddha statue which was located on top of one of them. Inside there were a number of murals and a relic (a piece of bone) of the Buddha. After lunch we headed to a monastery and had a great vegetarian lunch there. This was fun because I got to help encourage my students to try the new things that were placed in front of them. Many of them were pretty nervous about some of the options, but it was a good learning experience all around.


We left the monastery and headed to a newly installed (Swiss) cable car which was going to take us all back down the mountain and provide a scenic view. Here's the catch... the cable car/gondola had only been in operation for SIX (6) days. Luckily, after last summer, I trust Swiss engineering! I wasn't thrilled when the group of students was climbing all over the car trying to get good pictures. It was already drizzling a bit, very windy and come on - only 6 days old. I don't mind heights, but I was getting a bit freaked out by the sway of the cable car! My seat was firmly planted on the seat, so I didn't get much of a view on the way down...forgive and forget right?

Ok... so as I write this, Joy just asked me if I was finally catching up on my blog. She laughed when I told her that I was back on Lantau Island (yes, I know I'm behind). She then said, "Did you tell them about the gondola ride?" She was in the car with me... we both just got a good laugh about it! All in all it was a fun day and I look forward to returning for a longer visit!

Shenzen, China

So, Tim and I decided that we needed to use our Chinese Visas while we were in Hong Kong. We hopped a train on the third day that we were there and headed to Shenzen, which was only about an hour away. It is a border town, so in my mind I had pictured a small, touristy village. It was a lot bigger than I had imagined and had an interesting feel to it. I don't ever need to go back to this town and quite honestly, it didn't give the best impression of China. I would like to explore other areas to see how they compare, although, from what students and other faculty/staff have said, China doesn't need to be high on my list of places to return. It sounds as though the Beijing Olympic games in 2008 will be good and it was fun seeing/hearing about some of the prep work for that.

Unlike in Hong Kong, Shenzen people were not used to seeing Westerners and had no qualms about staring. They didn't do this in the curious way that we've seen in many of the other countries, but rather in a displeased manner. It was almost as though we were a huge imposition and not wanted. Tim and I avoided the touristy shopping center just outside of the train station as we wanted to get a better feel for the town. Many folks from Hong Kong will go to Shenzen just to shop, as it is extremely cheap - but come on, that's not why I'm in China! We headed away from the shops and discovered that many folks didn't seem keen on foreigners hanging around outside of that area.

When we stopped for lunch we discovered that someone had tried to pick-pocket out of Tim's backpack. We didn't notice until the host at the restaurant we'd gone into explained this to us, using hand gestures. He had stopped the pick-pocketer and returned Tim's camera case to him... luckily, Tim had his camera on him not in the bag! He was so nice about it and told us, in not so many words, to be really careful in Shenzen.

We wandered around and I stopped Tim and told him to look across the street....I wasn't sure I was seeing correctly. I asked him if I was really looking at a Wal-Mart sign in China? Sure enough, I was. Naturally, we decided to go in. Seriously, how could we not check out Wal-Mart in China? It was located underneath the streets and my big question for Tim as we went down the escalator was "so...do you think everything in this store is really made in the USA?"


I'm so glad we went in, as it was quite the experience. I can't tell you how out of place we felt - everyone in there was looking at us as though we were from Mars. It felt like a Wal-Mart in the states, though it was much smaller. It did have groceries though. Many American products were available; however, most of the products were Chinese. The Wal-Mart blue didn't exist, rather everyone was wearing a kelly green color.


Instead of selling fried chicken, they sold fried chicken's feet (no joke, and no I didn't feel the need to try one). There was a plethora of fresh seafood (live and dead), vats of dried rice, and a lot of dried fish/sea creatures. It was very interesting to wander around and try and figure out what things were. It was fun to walk through, but, as with all Wal-Marts, I couldn't wait to get out! This one gave me a headache as well! There were a ton of employees around, and not one person offered/gestured to help, they merely looked at us suspiciously. Thinking back, I don't know why I was surprised to see Wal-Mart there because I vaguely recall watching a 60 Minutes episode on Chinese and upscale Wal-Marts, however, it did catch me off guard.

One of our Chinese students suggested going to a place called Window to the World. She said that it was a place you could see the Great Wall, and some other cool things. Having not had much time to do research on Shenzen, we took her advice and headed to Window to the World. Well, that turned out to be interesting. After desperate attempts to figure out which train to get on (as there was no English or anyone who spoke it around) we took an uncomfortable hour subway ride to get there. As we came out of the subway station we looked across the street and couldn't believe what we saw. It was a glass pyramid, an exact replica of the glass pyramids from the Louve Museum in Paris. As we crossed the street we realized that this place also had Greco-Roman sculptures, an "Eiffel Tower," "old Columns," etc. It turned out to be an amusement park based on famous sights around the world. It cost about 60 USD to get in, so we both vetoed the Window to the World option. We did get a few good laughs and pictures....should have done a bit more research before going to Shenzen.


We forked over the $$$ to take a cab back to the train station area so that we could see some of the city as we drove through. When we got back to the train station we decided to walk through the infamous shopping area and quickly realized the error in our ways as Tim got molested by sales people. He seems to have the word "sucker" stamped on his forehead. We were trying to leave and one of the sales people wouldn't let him out of the store. I gave him a few minutes to escape before I starting taking pictures of this. =) I finally went back into the store (I'd managed to sneak by them since I was walking in front of TIm) and we pushed our way out together.

When we finally made it back to the ship we went to get dressed up because some of the RD staff was heading out for a fun dinner in So-Ho (one of my favorite areas of HK). We were definitely glad to be back in HK.