Peace, E
Elivia, Matt, and Meggie (so many tries! haha)
(Ryan, Me, and Meggie on Waikiki Beach)
(Natalie and Meggie pre-Ambassador's ball)
(Natalie, Meggie, Me)
(Elivia, Me, Amy, and Meggie, at dinner)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Pictures
Hey everyone... just wanted to upload some more photos for you all. These are from life on the ship, Hawaii and the Ambassador's Ball where we all got dressed up and had a blast. Hope you enjoy and I can't wait to show you all more photos. Miss you all!!!
Peace, E
Elivia, Matt, and Meggie (so many tries! haha)
(Ryan, Me, and Meggie on Waikiki Beach)
(Natalie and Meggie pre-Ambassador's ball)
(Natalie, Meggie, Me)
(Elivia, Me, Amy, and Meggie, at dinner)
Peace, E
Elivia, Matt, and Meggie (so many tries! haha)
(Ryan, Me, and Meggie on Waikiki Beach)
(Natalie and Meggie pre-Ambassador's ball)
(Natalie, Meggie, Me)
(Elivia, Me, Amy, and Meggie, at dinner)
Hawaii and Ship Life Since Then
Hey everyone...
So Hawaii was beautiful! We got in early and Natalie and I ran off the ship to shop a little before heading to the beach. Then a huge group of us headed to Waikiki beach. There Natalie and Nicole bought some amazing rafts and we spent all day hanging out at the beach and rafting in the ocean. It was beautiful and hot and so cool to just hang out with everyone. Since Hawaii is a State we were able to call people too, so EVERYONE was on their phone catching up and it was great to get to talk to some of my friends.
Since Hawaii ship life has been wonderful. We had the Ambassador's Ball, a fancy dinner/dance that is put on for the whole shipboard community. Natalie, Meggie, Elivia and I sat together and had such a blast together. There was great food and everyone was dressed up and looked really nice.
I brought on three big rafts from Hawaii, so Nicole, Natalie and I have been rafting quite a bit in our tiny pool on the ship. It's so much fun. A lot of my friends join in and it makes the tiny pool all the more better. I've been laying out a lot and hanging out with friends outside. It's currently finals week but you can't really tell on the ship. It's almost impossible to study, which is aggravating, but I'm not too concerned. I have a little place I try to study at. I only have one exam thankfully, though it'll definitely be hard. In my other classes I had papers due, and have been done now for a few days, which is sublime.
The days consist of waking up, class or working out, then hanging out on the 7th deck all day, either tanning, swimming or playing games like Rummy-O and cards. After my exam in three days I will officially be done with my Junior year of college!
Then we go to Costa Rica where I plan on surfing and white water rafting. It should be a blast. After that we have four days at sea to pack up and say good bye to everyone. It's so depressing! I really, really, really don't want this to be over. It's been the most amazing experience of my life and I can't imagine how I'll come back to reality, back to madison, and not be on this ship. But that's a post for another time.
I miss you all and love hearing from you. Talk to you and SEE YOU soon!!!
Peace,
E
So Hawaii was beautiful! We got in early and Natalie and I ran off the ship to shop a little before heading to the beach. Then a huge group of us headed to Waikiki beach. There Natalie and Nicole bought some amazing rafts and we spent all day hanging out at the beach and rafting in the ocean. It was beautiful and hot and so cool to just hang out with everyone. Since Hawaii is a State we were able to call people too, so EVERYONE was on their phone catching up and it was great to get to talk to some of my friends.
Since Hawaii ship life has been wonderful. We had the Ambassador's Ball, a fancy dinner/dance that is put on for the whole shipboard community. Natalie, Meggie, Elivia and I sat together and had such a blast together. There was great food and everyone was dressed up and looked really nice.
I brought on three big rafts from Hawaii, so Nicole, Natalie and I have been rafting quite a bit in our tiny pool on the ship. It's so much fun. A lot of my friends join in and it makes the tiny pool all the more better. I've been laying out a lot and hanging out with friends outside. It's currently finals week but you can't really tell on the ship. It's almost impossible to study, which is aggravating, but I'm not too concerned. I have a little place I try to study at. I only have one exam thankfully, though it'll definitely be hard. In my other classes I had papers due, and have been done now for a few days, which is sublime.
The days consist of waking up, class or working out, then hanging out on the 7th deck all day, either tanning, swimming or playing games like Rummy-O and cards. After my exam in three days I will officially be done with my Junior year of college!
Then we go to Costa Rica where I plan on surfing and white water rafting. It should be a blast. After that we have four days at sea to pack up and say good bye to everyone. It's so depressing! I really, really, really don't want this to be over. It's been the most amazing experience of my life and I can't imagine how I'll come back to reality, back to madison, and not be on this ship. But that's a post for another time.
I miss you all and love hearing from you. Talk to you and SEE YOU soon!!!
Peace,
E
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sea Life
Hey All,
I've been at sea for a couple days and I thought I'd fill you in with what's happening onboard the MV Explorer. Today we had a bbq out on the seventh deck by the pool. Since today was also a "NO Classes" day it was great to sleep in and head outside around noon. Tonight I have a fancy five course dinner meal for my Red Sea social. If you sign up early enough they put on this great dinners for 25 people. You get a special room and a free glass of champagne and some upscale food. It's a great break from the buffet style cafeteria food we have everyday.
Since leaving Japan a few girls and I have completed Season 1 of Prison Break! It's a great show, but as Elivia mentions repeatedly, not as good as 24.
It's been pretty rocky since leaving Japan and is finally starting to let up. The first few days were pretty bumpy and I learned that the ship can go 70 degrees sideways without tipping. Comforting.
Classes are going well. Nothing new really to update there.
Alright it's the first sunny day in a few days so I'm going to probably head out to the pool area. Unfortunately the pool is empty because it's been to rocky for water to be in it. But I can always lay out and read!
Miss you all.
Peace,
E
I've been at sea for a couple days and I thought I'd fill you in with what's happening onboard the MV Explorer. Today we had a bbq out on the seventh deck by the pool. Since today was also a "NO Classes" day it was great to sleep in and head outside around noon. Tonight I have a fancy five course dinner meal for my Red Sea social. If you sign up early enough they put on this great dinners for 25 people. You get a special room and a free glass of champagne and some upscale food. It's a great break from the buffet style cafeteria food we have everyday.
Since leaving Japan a few girls and I have completed Season 1 of Prison Break! It's a great show, but as Elivia mentions repeatedly, not as good as 24.
It's been pretty rocky since leaving Japan and is finally starting to let up. The first few days were pretty bumpy and I learned that the ship can go 70 degrees sideways without tipping. Comforting.
Classes are going well. Nothing new really to update there.
Alright it's the first sunny day in a few days so I'm going to probably head out to the pool area. Unfortunately the pool is empty because it's been to rocky for water to be in it. But I can always lay out and read!
Miss you all.
Peace,
E
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Japan
Hey everyone! Greetings from the ship. I am on my way to Hawaii at the moment. We left Japan a few days ago and I was so exhausted and spent that I haven’t done much since. I’ve spent a lot of time resting, and watching Prison Break (TV Show) with my roommate and some friends. Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted.
Anyway, Japan was pretty awesome. I chose to travel with two other girls, Hillary and Mandy and we mapped out a pretty intense course of travel. We decided to hit up Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima! We also wanted to spend a little time in our port city in Kobe. Somehow, we managed to make it to all these stops!
We started off by getting off the ship pretty late. Japan has some pretty intense regulations for disembarking and it took much longer than any other port. After getting off we walked around Kobe a little on the way to the train station. Kobe was surprisingly a pretty cool city. My friend had read to me, before getting off the ship, that Kobe was mostly a resident’s city and not one that would excite travelers. However we found the subtle differences from other cities to actually be pretty cool to experience. We also were generally just pretty excited to be in Japan. We made our way to the train station and caught an express to Kyoto. I was planning to meet up with AK, Ira and Zack in Kyoto which was a pretty great addition to the trip. Thankfully everything went smoothly and we managed to get in touch and get together for dinner. We had a great dinner with some delicious food and it was so nice just see family and get a taste of home. (Thanks again for meeting up with me Blumberg family!!)
The next morning was spent exploring Kyoto. We walked around the area of our hotel and managed to take a train to the Imperial Palace, which we later learned was only opened 5 days a year. It was a really cool palace with some interesting history. We walked around the grounds and ended up finding this little farmers market around the area. After roaming around we left for the shopping area. We walked through the Ponto-Cho district which is known for its nightlife and was completely dead during the day. While searching for a market we came across an outdoor covered mall that we walked around for a while at. We had to leave a little early to check out and catch a train to Tokyo. We could have easily spent the whole time in Kyoto, but we had to move on.
We took a bullet to Tokyo where our first plan of action was Tokyo Disneyland. Yes, it was not my idea. Yes, I did have fun. Mandy and Hillary were SET on going and I decided it could potentially be fun and went along with it. The layout was almost identical to Disneyland in LA which I went to the summer I lived in LA. After that we went out in the Roppongi district and, of course, I found a ton of other SAS kids and spent a good part of the night doing Karaoke! We slept in a capsule hotel, which was pretty disgusting but an important experience to have. If you want details let me know, I’ll avoid going into detail here.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to head to the Harajuku district. We’d heard great things about the district from other kids who had gone and we knew it was where Gwen Stefani was inspired for her clothing style and some songs on her new CD. The district was so cool! We walked around for a good couple of hours in and out of shops and people watching. Then we went to another district in Japan where we walked around and searched for shoes. Japan has some pretty amazing shoes. Sadly, but happily for dad, I didn’t find anything in my size! After that we took a train to the Tokyo Giants baseball game! It was so much fun and again we ran into some more SASers. A huge group of us sat together and enjoyed a few hours watching some good baseball. It was so cool to be in a stadium cheering for the Giants again.
After the game we headed to the train station to catch a train to Osaka. We heard a lot of SAS kids were going to be there. We had some complications and didn’t make it until late at night into the city. Once there we walked around, realized we had no great hotel or hostel to stay in and decided to just take a train back to Kobe to sleep on the ship. Since we had bought rail passes ahead of time we saved a significant amount of money and decided it was just easier to sleep back in Kobe since the plan was to wake up early for Hiroshima. We hung out in the train station for a little while and caught one of the last trains out to Kobe. We met up with a ton of other kids back in Kobe and somehow made our way back to the ship after switching from subway to subway.
The next morning we awoke and headed to Hiroshima. This was my most anticipated part of the Japan trip (besides seeing my family of course). We took an early train and upon arrival went straight to the Hiroshima Peace Museum. It was a beautiful day in Hiroshima, one of the nicest we’d had in Japan. Walking through the outdoor grounds and then through the massive museum I was taken aback by the sense of hope and willingness to move forward for a safer future. I purchased the audio guide and was glad I did so as I walked through the museum that had some amazing artifacts, including letters from Einstein to FDR and Truman and details about the city and the bombs that I found fascinating. There was also a big section on the mayor of Hiroshima, who after the bombings began to write a letter every day for the rest of his term protesting the use of nuclear weapons to every major arms holder in the world. It was incredible.
We spent the rest of the day roaming the city and then made our way back to Kobe and hung out until we had to get back on the ship by 9 pm.
Japan was such a rush of motion and hurrying and waiting at train stations and shopping and city life. It was a lot of fun and very tiring. Like I said, I’m back on the ship and life is great now that I’m rested. Got to go work out – miss you all!!!
Peace, E
Anyway, Japan was pretty awesome. I chose to travel with two other girls, Hillary and Mandy and we mapped out a pretty intense course of travel. We decided to hit up Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima! We also wanted to spend a little time in our port city in Kobe. Somehow, we managed to make it to all these stops!
We started off by getting off the ship pretty late. Japan has some pretty intense regulations for disembarking and it took much longer than any other port. After getting off we walked around Kobe a little on the way to the train station. Kobe was surprisingly a pretty cool city. My friend had read to me, before getting off the ship, that Kobe was mostly a resident’s city and not one that would excite travelers. However we found the subtle differences from other cities to actually be pretty cool to experience. We also were generally just pretty excited to be in Japan. We made our way to the train station and caught an express to Kyoto. I was planning to meet up with AK, Ira and Zack in Kyoto which was a pretty great addition to the trip. Thankfully everything went smoothly and we managed to get in touch and get together for dinner. We had a great dinner with some delicious food and it was so nice just see family and get a taste of home. (Thanks again for meeting up with me Blumberg family!!)
The next morning was spent exploring Kyoto. We walked around the area of our hotel and managed to take a train to the Imperial Palace, which we later learned was only opened 5 days a year. It was a really cool palace with some interesting history. We walked around the grounds and ended up finding this little farmers market around the area. After roaming around we left for the shopping area. We walked through the Ponto-Cho district which is known for its nightlife and was completely dead during the day. While searching for a market we came across an outdoor covered mall that we walked around for a while at. We had to leave a little early to check out and catch a train to Tokyo. We could have easily spent the whole time in Kyoto, but we had to move on.
We took a bullet to Tokyo where our first plan of action was Tokyo Disneyland. Yes, it was not my idea. Yes, I did have fun. Mandy and Hillary were SET on going and I decided it could potentially be fun and went along with it. The layout was almost identical to Disneyland in LA which I went to the summer I lived in LA. After that we went out in the Roppongi district and, of course, I found a ton of other SAS kids and spent a good part of the night doing Karaoke! We slept in a capsule hotel, which was pretty disgusting but an important experience to have. If you want details let me know, I’ll avoid going into detail here.
The next morning we woke up bright and early to head to the Harajuku district. We’d heard great things about the district from other kids who had gone and we knew it was where Gwen Stefani was inspired for her clothing style and some songs on her new CD. The district was so cool! We walked around for a good couple of hours in and out of shops and people watching. Then we went to another district in Japan where we walked around and searched for shoes. Japan has some pretty amazing shoes. Sadly, but happily for dad, I didn’t find anything in my size! After that we took a train to the Tokyo Giants baseball game! It was so much fun and again we ran into some more SASers. A huge group of us sat together and enjoyed a few hours watching some good baseball. It was so cool to be in a stadium cheering for the Giants again.
After the game we headed to the train station to catch a train to Osaka. We heard a lot of SAS kids were going to be there. We had some complications and didn’t make it until late at night into the city. Once there we walked around, realized we had no great hotel or hostel to stay in and decided to just take a train back to Kobe to sleep on the ship. Since we had bought rail passes ahead of time we saved a significant amount of money and decided it was just easier to sleep back in Kobe since the plan was to wake up early for Hiroshima. We hung out in the train station for a little while and caught one of the last trains out to Kobe. We met up with a ton of other kids back in Kobe and somehow made our way back to the ship after switching from subway to subway.
The next morning we awoke and headed to Hiroshima. This was my most anticipated part of the Japan trip (besides seeing my family of course). We took an early train and upon arrival went straight to the Hiroshima Peace Museum. It was a beautiful day in Hiroshima, one of the nicest we’d had in Japan. Walking through the outdoor grounds and then through the massive museum I was taken aback by the sense of hope and willingness to move forward for a safer future. I purchased the audio guide and was glad I did so as I walked through the museum that had some amazing artifacts, including letters from Einstein to FDR and Truman and details about the city and the bombs that I found fascinating. There was also a big section on the mayor of Hiroshima, who after the bombings began to write a letter every day for the rest of his term protesting the use of nuclear weapons to every major arms holder in the world. It was incredible.
We spent the rest of the day roaming the city and then made our way back to Kobe and hung out until we had to get back on the ship by 9 pm.
Japan was such a rush of motion and hurrying and waiting at train stations and shopping and city life. It was a lot of fun and very tiring. Like I said, I’m back on the ship and life is great now that I’m rested. Got to go work out – miss you all!!!
Peace, E
Hong Kong and China
Hey all, so Hong Kong and China were great! I went on a scheduled trip with five other kids and we had a total blast. We managed to get to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai.
In Hong Kong I spent the day roaming the city with Natalie. We met a man on the ferry from our port to the downtown area and he decided to take us around and show us some really cool things. We saw this awesome temple with an insane amount of incense coating the air. He introduced us to an amazing yogurt-type food that we loved. He showed us where to shop and finally let us off to explore the rest of the city. After that I met up with the Wisconsin girls and we all went out to a nice dinner. Hong Kong was a ton of fun.
We woke up early the next morning to fly to China. China was great. We had tour guides who took us all over the cities we were in. In Beijing, we managed to go see some great historic sights, a fun teahouse, a palace and ate some great food. We also got to meet up with family friend Bill who's been living in Beijing for about 5 years now. It was great to see him and catch up. In Xi'an we saw the amazing Terra Cotta soldiers which was an awesome sight. We also walked around the city which was pretty cool. Last was Shanghai, my favorite stop.
The morning we had free in Shanghai my friends Natalie and MacKenzie and I traveled far from the ship to the M50 district. The district is essentially a contemporary art gallery area. As we arrived upon the area we saw amazing graffiti lining the walls and I knew this was going to be a cool district. There were building after building of new artists work and we just walked through each building checking out some beautiful art. We also ate at this amazing art cafe... twice! I wanted to buy this artwork, but it was $6000. So I had to refrain. It was beautiful though. After that we explored other parts of the city, but I'm pretty sure that morning was one of my, if not the one, favorite day i've so far.
All in all China was a great experience and I would love to go back to Shanghai!
In Hong Kong I spent the day roaming the city with Natalie. We met a man on the ferry from our port to the downtown area and he decided to take us around and show us some really cool things. We saw this awesome temple with an insane amount of incense coating the air. He introduced us to an amazing yogurt-type food that we loved. He showed us where to shop and finally let us off to explore the rest of the city. After that I met up with the Wisconsin girls and we all went out to a nice dinner. Hong Kong was a ton of fun.
We woke up early the next morning to fly to China. China was great. We had tour guides who took us all over the cities we were in. In Beijing, we managed to go see some great historic sights, a fun teahouse, a palace and ate some great food. We also got to meet up with family friend Bill who's been living in Beijing for about 5 years now. It was great to see him and catch up. In Xi'an we saw the amazing Terra Cotta soldiers which was an awesome sight. We also walked around the city which was pretty cool. Last was Shanghai, my favorite stop.
The morning we had free in Shanghai my friends Natalie and MacKenzie and I traveled far from the ship to the M50 district. The district is essentially a contemporary art gallery area. As we arrived upon the area we saw amazing graffiti lining the walls and I knew this was going to be a cool district. There were building after building of new artists work and we just walked through each building checking out some beautiful art. We also ate at this amazing art cafe... twice! I wanted to buy this artwork, but it was $6000. So I had to refrain. It was beautiful though. After that we explored other parts of the city, but I'm pretty sure that morning was one of my, if not the one, favorite day i've so far.
All in all China was a great experience and I would love to go back to Shanghai!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia
So here's a BIG ONE! :)
Hey everyone. Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted. Since India we have had only 2-3 days on the ship between ports. I just left Vietnam this morning. After India I went to Malaysia. From Malaysia I went to Vietnam and to Cambodia and back to Vietnam. Now we have two days until we get to Hong Kong.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier India was a pretty difficult port to grasp. I don’t think I’ll post much about it except that it was a great experience. I went on a SAS program with about 70 other kids and I regret signing up for it. I wish I traveled in a smaller group. We landed in Chennai which is a smaller city on the Eastern coast. The smell of burnt rubber permeating throughout the ship and actually woke me up. Since then the smell would continue to be very intense throughout my time in India. The trip I was on traveled to Delhi, Agra, and Varanassi. Varanassi was definitely the highlight and I almost wish I just went there. Along with the Ganges Varanassi seemed to be the most like the India that was shocking. Cows walking through the street, numbers of men peeing on the side of the road, trash everywhere, layers of dirt coating the road and buildings, street vendors and hawkers shouting at people, beggers lining the street. It was a difficult city to process and I think it was made even harder when traveling by huge bus with so many American students. In Agra we saw the Taj Mahal and some beautiful forts. When in Delhi we traveled around the city viewing different major monuments including Ghandi’s memorial, the holiest spot for Buddhist’s in the world, and (my favorite) an amazing Muslim Mosque in Old Delhi. The trip was about 6 days, I flew to four cities, took two train rides, drove at least 10 hours by bus, and slept a total of 7 hours in a four day period. India was a wave of exhaustion, depression, shock, and peacefulness. It’s hard to explain but that’s what I’ll say on it now and maybe in the future I can elaborate.
Right away after India we had a few days and then got to Malaysia. In Malaysia nine of us flew from our port Penang to Kuala Lumpur the major city in Malaysia. We were in the country during Formula 1, a major speed car-racing weekend, which made travel hectic but not terrible and the city packed with tourists and promotional events. KL was much like an American city. Big and bustling with some great aspects and some not so great aspects. The nine of us managed to stay in a ridiculously nice hotel that had a number of positive amenities including free food and drink until 10:30 pm, free internet (good for skype-ing), and an amazing pool. We probably spent more time than we should have in our hotel suite, but had a blast regardless. The first day Natalie and I explored the city and managed to find a small section of the city called Little-Malay. The small part of the city was full of locals and Natalie and I just walked around hanging out with little kids, taking photos, and walking in and out of shops. After that we went on an elevated train to Park Titiwangsa, a park with a manmade lake and running lap and badminton courts. After that we made it back to the hotel where we met up and hung out with everyone in the group. The next day the whole group went to the Batu caves, a huge cave with a Hindu temple in it, and then to the Thean Hou Temple, a Chinese temple just outside KL. It was cool to all go together in a big van and see these really cool temples and monuments in the city. The last day we spent traveling back to Penang. When in Penang the first night, I spent a lot of time traveling with Kelly, Matt, Meggie, and Natalie. We had a blast one night trying to find an internet café. We didn’t really get internet until it was too late but we did find and enjoy a Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and a 7-11. The last day I spent exploring different aspects of Penang including a Chocolate Boutique, a major mall, and Chinatown. I managed to find a great cheap DVD store and purchased about 20 DVDs for around $40 – pretty excited about that! We left Penang the next morning and ended up stopping in Singapore to fuel for almost the whole day. I spent the day hanging out with friends and trying to recuperate from some intense traveling in the past few days.
The next few days on the ship I spent a lot of time reading about the genocide in Cambodia (since that was the next stop) and studying in my classes. We arrived in Vietnam and I was scheduled to do a Faculty-Directed-Practicum (FDP – required for everyone to do a certain number of FDP’s). The FDP was a trip to a UPI photo-journalists home just outside Ho Chi Minh City. A small group of us walked through his home where he had blown up pictures from the various wars that he worked on. Listening to the man speak about the Vietnam war was pretty interesting and the photos were haunting to say the least. We had trouble communicating with him directly, but managed to get some major points answered. There was also a little shrine/memorial for the 200 journalists killed in the Vietnam War. After visiting his house the bus took us to the WAR museum. We had about an hour to walk through the museum, which had some fascinating and depressing exhibits. I spent most of my time viewing the exhibit on Agent Orange and the exhibit of current/recent genocides and child soldiers. All in all the day was difficult to digest but really interesting and important. I came back to the ship and washed up so I could meet with Meggie and her parents who were visiting. I met up with Natalie and Jimmy and we took the shuttle bus to downtown where we walked to the Vietnam House to meet with about 35 other students and have dinner. There were about three sets of parents, all of Wisconsin girls on the ship visiting through the parent program, so the group was mostly Wisconsin and the dinner was great. It was really cool getting to meet the parents and all hang out together for dinner.
The next morning I had to wake up very early to get to the airport and fly to Cambodia. I was on a scheduled SAS trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia to tour the temples of Angkor Wat. As we got to Cambodia the group checked into our really nice hotel and then traveled straight to the major Angor Wat temple. We spent about 3 hours touring around the grounds of the temple and it was HOT and humid. Then we went to a dinner with a cultural dance performance that was really cool to see. At dinner we met up with 2 other SAS trips and there must have been about 200 of us at this dinner.
As we came back to the hotel my friend David Frisch (from Wisconsin too), and I decided that we wanted to break away from the group and travel independently to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and the major site of the Khmer Rouge regime during the 1975-78 genocide. Having just studied the genocide, Frisch (who is also in my International Law class on genocide) and I decided we had to see the Killing Fields and the S-21 Torture Prison, which has now been turned into a museum. As I said, there was an SAS group at dinner and they had visited those places the day before so I got some good advice on how to travel and what to see. That night Frisch and I booked our flight tickets and were ready to go. We had to get up around 6 am the next day to head to the airport and catch our domestic flight to Phnom Penh. Upon arrival we found a taxi and told him to take us straight to the S-21 prison. We spent about 2 hours touring the grounds of the torture prison. It was a very important experience to tour through the museum and it was really intense even to just walk the same grounds where such atrocities occurred. The buildings have been maintained and throughout the rooms they outline all that took place throughout the years of the Khmer Rouge regime including training soldiers, torturing prisoners, capturing victims, interrogation styles, confessions from soldiers, as well as showing the barracks as they were during the time. Even reflecting on it now I don’t know how comprehend it all. It was a monumental experience so far on this voyage and it was certainly a call for me to pursue a career and life that works toward preventing something similar from happening or to stop it from currently happening as is in various countries still today.
After the torture prison Frisch and I grabbed lunch at a local Thai restaurants and then traveled to the Killing Fields. This was a very weird experience. We both had a different image of the way it would look and were taken aback by coming in through the gate and seeing a massive monument/building that housed hundreds of skulls of victims (17 levels) that had been excavated from the mass graves. We walked around the fields and it was pretty scary just to roam past the mass graves and see holes where bodies were piled up as well as scattered remains of clothing and even of human bones. They also labeled different stops according to where certain methods of killing occurred. All in all it was incredibly depressing and important to see.
After this our taxi driver asked if we wanted to shoot guns. We both laughed at the idea of being taken to the torture prison and the killing fields and then being asked if we wanted to try out shooting AK-47s for fun. We passed.
Instead we drove to the airport a little early and hung out at a Dairy Queen and read/napped until we caught our flight back to Siem Reap. Back in Siem Reap we took a moped (Driver, Me Frisch in that order on one moped…very humorous) to the place that SAS was intended to be for dinner as it noted on the itinerary. Naturally they weren’t there but Frisch and I decided to stay and enjoy a nice dinner. One of our friends and companions on the SAS trip showed up about 5 minutes after we did also looking for the group and ended up staying with us as we ate and discussed our days.
The next morning I woke up and met up with my friend Amy from Wisconsin. Amy also had parents visiting and they invited me along for the day. We broke off from the group and decided to first go ride elephants. It was pretty cool to ride elephants near and around ancient temples in Cambodia. After that we went this rural town outside of Siem Reap and loaded up on a long motorized canoe-type boat. The drive alone out to the fishing markets and water homes was pretty remarkable. We went off the street and passed shack after shack filled with Vietnamese people relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. On the water we rode passed homes, buildings, and markets that were all pretty cool to see. We also saw a number of animals and fish when we made a stop at the fish museum and market. It was cool to hang out with Amy’s family too as they were really excited just to travel and experience Cambodia. After that we made our way back to the hotel where I met up with my original group for lunch and then to go tour more temples.
We went to a number of temples before making our way back to the airport so we could fly back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Back in Vietnam for the last day I met up with Elivia and we decided to go to the Cu Chi tunnels, old tunnels used during the Vietnam War. The tunnels were about an hour and a half outside of the city and we ended up hiring a driver with four other SAS kids. The driver, Ting, also became our tour guide as we went all over the tunnels and surrounding area. At the Cu Chi tunnels we got to see a number of fascinating things including old weapons, tanks, traps, food, and the tunnels themselves. We crawled through the tunnels which were a tight squeeze. We also were able to shoot guns at a firing range, which was pretty fascinating because as we toured throughout the area we constantly heard the startling noise of guns firing. We also got to try a shot of rice liquor fermented in snake, pretty gross. We ate tapioca and drank tea as well. All in all the experience was pretty crazy and well worth the $10.
After that Ting took us to a local Vietnamese restaurant where they spoke zero English and he ordered for us. It was cool to try it out and the food was pretty descent. After that Elivia and I rushed back to the ship to get ready and meet Meggie and her family for dinner. We ended up just missing them but they left a note so Elivia and I took a cap and eventually found the dinner restaurant where we met up with Sara (Dorsey, another Wisconsin girl) and her mom as well as the Wagner’s. We ate at Lemon Grass and it was one of the best dinners I’ve had on the trip. It was great to talk to Meggie’s parents some more; they are really cool.
After that we took a taxi back to the ship and it took us about an hour longer than it should have since we managed to get lost. It was pretty stressful, but oh well.
So there it is. Everything since India. I have a Global Studies exam tomorrow and five page paper due for my women’s issues class, so I’ve got to run. I’ll be in Hong Kong in about two days and I’m so excited! I wish we had a week to regroup, but that’s how SAS rolls.
I miss you all and hope all is good! Please e-mail and keep me posted on your lives when you get a chance! Huge disappointment for the Badgers vs Davidson, but it’s ok… next year. I’m sure Davidson will take the tourney. Also, enjoy Opening Day for me! I miss my Giants! Also has anyone seen Semi-Pro? Was it good? Is Will Ferrel still amazing? I need a movie update from my family members! Ok, that’s all!
Peace,
E
Hey everyone. Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted. Since India we have had only 2-3 days on the ship between ports. I just left Vietnam this morning. After India I went to Malaysia. From Malaysia I went to Vietnam and to Cambodia and back to Vietnam. Now we have two days until we get to Hong Kong.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier India was a pretty difficult port to grasp. I don’t think I’ll post much about it except that it was a great experience. I went on a SAS program with about 70 other kids and I regret signing up for it. I wish I traveled in a smaller group. We landed in Chennai which is a smaller city on the Eastern coast. The smell of burnt rubber permeating throughout the ship and actually woke me up. Since then the smell would continue to be very intense throughout my time in India. The trip I was on traveled to Delhi, Agra, and Varanassi. Varanassi was definitely the highlight and I almost wish I just went there. Along with the Ganges Varanassi seemed to be the most like the India that was shocking. Cows walking through the street, numbers of men peeing on the side of the road, trash everywhere, layers of dirt coating the road and buildings, street vendors and hawkers shouting at people, beggers lining the street. It was a difficult city to process and I think it was made even harder when traveling by huge bus with so many American students. In Agra we saw the Taj Mahal and some beautiful forts. When in Delhi we traveled around the city viewing different major monuments including Ghandi’s memorial, the holiest spot for Buddhist’s in the world, and (my favorite) an amazing Muslim Mosque in Old Delhi. The trip was about 6 days, I flew to four cities, took two train rides, drove at least 10 hours by bus, and slept a total of 7 hours in a four day period. India was a wave of exhaustion, depression, shock, and peacefulness. It’s hard to explain but that’s what I’ll say on it now and maybe in the future I can elaborate.
Right away after India we had a few days and then got to Malaysia. In Malaysia nine of us flew from our port Penang to Kuala Lumpur the major city in Malaysia. We were in the country during Formula 1, a major speed car-racing weekend, which made travel hectic but not terrible and the city packed with tourists and promotional events. KL was much like an American city. Big and bustling with some great aspects and some not so great aspects. The nine of us managed to stay in a ridiculously nice hotel that had a number of positive amenities including free food and drink until 10:30 pm, free internet (good for skype-ing), and an amazing pool. We probably spent more time than we should have in our hotel suite, but had a blast regardless. The first day Natalie and I explored the city and managed to find a small section of the city called Little-Malay. The small part of the city was full of locals and Natalie and I just walked around hanging out with little kids, taking photos, and walking in and out of shops. After that we went on an elevated train to Park Titiwangsa, a park with a manmade lake and running lap and badminton courts. After that we made it back to the hotel where we met up and hung out with everyone in the group. The next day the whole group went to the Batu caves, a huge cave with a Hindu temple in it, and then to the Thean Hou Temple, a Chinese temple just outside KL. It was cool to all go together in a big van and see these really cool temples and monuments in the city. The last day we spent traveling back to Penang. When in Penang the first night, I spent a lot of time traveling with Kelly, Matt, Meggie, and Natalie. We had a blast one night trying to find an internet café. We didn’t really get internet until it was too late but we did find and enjoy a Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and a 7-11. The last day I spent exploring different aspects of Penang including a Chocolate Boutique, a major mall, and Chinatown. I managed to find a great cheap DVD store and purchased about 20 DVDs for around $40 – pretty excited about that! We left Penang the next morning and ended up stopping in Singapore to fuel for almost the whole day. I spent the day hanging out with friends and trying to recuperate from some intense traveling in the past few days.
The next few days on the ship I spent a lot of time reading about the genocide in Cambodia (since that was the next stop) and studying in my classes. We arrived in Vietnam and I was scheduled to do a Faculty-Directed-Practicum (FDP – required for everyone to do a certain number of FDP’s). The FDP was a trip to a UPI photo-journalists home just outside Ho Chi Minh City. A small group of us walked through his home where he had blown up pictures from the various wars that he worked on. Listening to the man speak about the Vietnam war was pretty interesting and the photos were haunting to say the least. We had trouble communicating with him directly, but managed to get some major points answered. There was also a little shrine/memorial for the 200 journalists killed in the Vietnam War. After visiting his house the bus took us to the WAR museum. We had about an hour to walk through the museum, which had some fascinating and depressing exhibits. I spent most of my time viewing the exhibit on Agent Orange and the exhibit of current/recent genocides and child soldiers. All in all the day was difficult to digest but really interesting and important. I came back to the ship and washed up so I could meet with Meggie and her parents who were visiting. I met up with Natalie and Jimmy and we took the shuttle bus to downtown where we walked to the Vietnam House to meet with about 35 other students and have dinner. There were about three sets of parents, all of Wisconsin girls on the ship visiting through the parent program, so the group was mostly Wisconsin and the dinner was great. It was really cool getting to meet the parents and all hang out together for dinner.
The next morning I had to wake up very early to get to the airport and fly to Cambodia. I was on a scheduled SAS trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia to tour the temples of Angkor Wat. As we got to Cambodia the group checked into our really nice hotel and then traveled straight to the major Angor Wat temple. We spent about 3 hours touring around the grounds of the temple and it was HOT and humid. Then we went to a dinner with a cultural dance performance that was really cool to see. At dinner we met up with 2 other SAS trips and there must have been about 200 of us at this dinner.
As we came back to the hotel my friend David Frisch (from Wisconsin too), and I decided that we wanted to break away from the group and travel independently to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and the major site of the Khmer Rouge regime during the 1975-78 genocide. Having just studied the genocide, Frisch (who is also in my International Law class on genocide) and I decided we had to see the Killing Fields and the S-21 Torture Prison, which has now been turned into a museum. As I said, there was an SAS group at dinner and they had visited those places the day before so I got some good advice on how to travel and what to see. That night Frisch and I booked our flight tickets and were ready to go. We had to get up around 6 am the next day to head to the airport and catch our domestic flight to Phnom Penh. Upon arrival we found a taxi and told him to take us straight to the S-21 prison. We spent about 2 hours touring the grounds of the torture prison. It was a very important experience to tour through the museum and it was really intense even to just walk the same grounds where such atrocities occurred. The buildings have been maintained and throughout the rooms they outline all that took place throughout the years of the Khmer Rouge regime including training soldiers, torturing prisoners, capturing victims, interrogation styles, confessions from soldiers, as well as showing the barracks as they were during the time. Even reflecting on it now I don’t know how comprehend it all. It was a monumental experience so far on this voyage and it was certainly a call for me to pursue a career and life that works toward preventing something similar from happening or to stop it from currently happening as is in various countries still today.
After the torture prison Frisch and I grabbed lunch at a local Thai restaurants and then traveled to the Killing Fields. This was a very weird experience. We both had a different image of the way it would look and were taken aback by coming in through the gate and seeing a massive monument/building that housed hundreds of skulls of victims (17 levels) that had been excavated from the mass graves. We walked around the fields and it was pretty scary just to roam past the mass graves and see holes where bodies were piled up as well as scattered remains of clothing and even of human bones. They also labeled different stops according to where certain methods of killing occurred. All in all it was incredibly depressing and important to see.
After this our taxi driver asked if we wanted to shoot guns. We both laughed at the idea of being taken to the torture prison and the killing fields and then being asked if we wanted to try out shooting AK-47s for fun. We passed.
Instead we drove to the airport a little early and hung out at a Dairy Queen and read/napped until we caught our flight back to Siem Reap. Back in Siem Reap we took a moped (Driver, Me Frisch in that order on one moped…very humorous) to the place that SAS was intended to be for dinner as it noted on the itinerary. Naturally they weren’t there but Frisch and I decided to stay and enjoy a nice dinner. One of our friends and companions on the SAS trip showed up about 5 minutes after we did also looking for the group and ended up staying with us as we ate and discussed our days.
The next morning I woke up and met up with my friend Amy from Wisconsin. Amy also had parents visiting and they invited me along for the day. We broke off from the group and decided to first go ride elephants. It was pretty cool to ride elephants near and around ancient temples in Cambodia. After that we went this rural town outside of Siem Reap and loaded up on a long motorized canoe-type boat. The drive alone out to the fishing markets and water homes was pretty remarkable. We went off the street and passed shack after shack filled with Vietnamese people relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. On the water we rode passed homes, buildings, and markets that were all pretty cool to see. We also saw a number of animals and fish when we made a stop at the fish museum and market. It was cool to hang out with Amy’s family too as they were really excited just to travel and experience Cambodia. After that we made our way back to the hotel where I met up with my original group for lunch and then to go tour more temples.
We went to a number of temples before making our way back to the airport so we could fly back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Back in Vietnam for the last day I met up with Elivia and we decided to go to the Cu Chi tunnels, old tunnels used during the Vietnam War. The tunnels were about an hour and a half outside of the city and we ended up hiring a driver with four other SAS kids. The driver, Ting, also became our tour guide as we went all over the tunnels and surrounding area. At the Cu Chi tunnels we got to see a number of fascinating things including old weapons, tanks, traps, food, and the tunnels themselves. We crawled through the tunnels which were a tight squeeze. We also were able to shoot guns at a firing range, which was pretty fascinating because as we toured throughout the area we constantly heard the startling noise of guns firing. We also got to try a shot of rice liquor fermented in snake, pretty gross. We ate tapioca and drank tea as well. All in all the experience was pretty crazy and well worth the $10.
After that Ting took us to a local Vietnamese restaurant where they spoke zero English and he ordered for us. It was cool to try it out and the food was pretty descent. After that Elivia and I rushed back to the ship to get ready and meet Meggie and her family for dinner. We ended up just missing them but they left a note so Elivia and I took a cap and eventually found the dinner restaurant where we met up with Sara (Dorsey, another Wisconsin girl) and her mom as well as the Wagner’s. We ate at Lemon Grass and it was one of the best dinners I’ve had on the trip. It was great to talk to Meggie’s parents some more; they are really cool.
After that we took a taxi back to the ship and it took us about an hour longer than it should have since we managed to get lost. It was pretty stressful, but oh well.
So there it is. Everything since India. I have a Global Studies exam tomorrow and five page paper due for my women’s issues class, so I’ve got to run. I’ll be in Hong Kong in about two days and I’m so excited! I wish we had a week to regroup, but that’s how SAS rolls.
I miss you all and hope all is good! Please e-mail and keep me posted on your lives when you get a chance! Huge disappointment for the Badgers vs Davidson, but it’s ok… next year. I’m sure Davidson will take the tourney. Also, enjoy Opening Day for me! I miss my Giants! Also has anyone seen Semi-Pro? Was it good? Is Will Ferrel still amazing? I need a movie update from my family members! Ok, that’s all!
Peace,
E
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