She is having an "AMAZING" time. Kirsten indicated that all the kids were required to stay in Havana during the three days in Cuba. We had purchased a variety of Harry Potter books for her to give away, each one in the languages of the various countries she would be visiting, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese. Since she was not able to visit a local family in a rural area, she traded the Spanish versions of the books at a local street book market and everyone was excited to get them. She also had a four hour tour of the city by a local she met. They talked about the political situation as well as seeing the sights. She is going to send me photos in her next email. Despite the long speech, she gave high marks to Castro, saying that he was very charismatic, and really "sucked up" to them in his speech. All the students went to a Castro sponsored party of about 1000 after the speech with a live band and dancing until one in the morning. She is going to send more emails and photos after the ship leaves for Brazil. Overall, she sounded excited and was having an unbelievable time.
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BRAZIL
Hey,
We left Brazil last night, and immediately returned to classes. Brazil ended way too fast. Five days is definitely not enough, but it is enough to know that I want to spend a lot of time in Brazil and the rest of South America in the future. The first day there I did what is called an FDP, which is basically an assigned trip from one of your classes. We can replace FDPs with independent trips to places related to our classes, but it is recommended that we try to fit in as many FDPs as possible. Anyway, the trip went into the Favela, which is basically what they call the shanty-town neighborhoods of Salvador. The trip went to a school that I guess you could call an elementary school. There were kids of all ages there, but only grades one through four are taught. Most of the kids that I saw were fairly young though. I am sending a picture of three little girls. You can�t see much of the room we were in from the picture, but when you get the CD you will see the condition of the gym.
After visiting the Favela I went out with a couple friends to kill some time before heading to the bus station. We ended up at a little outdoor caf� drinking beer, and we were swarmed by little kids who kept asking us for money. They are little scam artists here, having mastered the art of looking sad. When we say no they run away and laugh amongst themselves only to return a few minutes later as if we had never interacted. Finally we headed to the bus station. The bus trip to Lencois wasn�t so much fun, it was overnight and the bus was comprised almost entirely of Semester at Sea students. We did, however, meet a traveling Argentinean at the bus station who recommended a great little pausada (basically a little hostel/bed-and-breakfast type place) for 20 Reales a night (about six dollars). We followed her when we arrived, but it was still very early, and the owners hadn�t yet woken up. We ended up just sitting on some steps for about an hour, deliriously tired but overly hyper from adrenaline. Finally they woke up and showed us to our room. I passed out right away, but when I woke up I noticed how great our room was. Each bungalow is its own little building, comprised of a room and a bathroom. Since the place is situated on a mountain, there are paths leading to each place where you essentially have to climb up to stay on. Our room had three windows looking out to an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains, but there was no glass in any of them. I ended up loving this feature because the sounds of the night were so great. You could hear so many animals, and the family that owned the place would sit out on a patio lounging around in hammocks playing the guitar and laughing. My roommates had more trouble with mosquitos than I did, so they weren�t as keen on the openness of our quarters. We wandered around Lencois that first day, chit-chatting with locals and trying out new foods. In the afternoon we decided to head up to the most famous waterfall in Lencois, which is a natural slide you can slip down (I�m sending a picture of that too). We almost paid a guide to take us, but luckily we met a couple of Israeli backpackers who knew the way. It was about an hour trek through the mountains, so we all arrived thinking we would be pretty isolated. Unfortunately, the official semester at sea group was there so it was pretty crowded. We had a lot of fun though. I found an adventurous companion in Yonaton, one of the Israelis. They were, by the way, the most interesting companions, but I will tell you more about them another time.
The next day we rose early to have a day of sightseeing. Our first stop was a mountain we had to climb, but we drove most of the way. We ended up climbing for only about 25 minutes, but it was practically straight up. The view from the top was incredible. Rather than the tree covered mountains we were used to seeing in the area, we found cliffs and canyons all around us. Mom, you would have loved the rock formations. After this we drove to another place and hiked for an hour into a canyon where a waterfall awaited us. Theresa and I didn�t hike all the way down though; there was a zipline connected from the top of the waterfall down to the swimming hole, which only cost us 10 Reales each. The first step off the cliff was quite a rush, but after the line stopped you from falling it was fairly tame. At the bottom I tried to get Theresa and Nina to swim under the waterfall with me where a ledge was waiting to be rested on, but they weren�t into it. Luckily Yonaton was, so we headed over. Even his girlfriend wanted to stay on the shore.
After hiking out we got �lunch,� which was a sandwich consisting of bread, butter and a slice of cheese. Oh, and a banana. Then we went out to another swimming hole. The water here ran through a cave, and after we were done swimming we hiked up from our side and down to the other side of the cave. I am sending a picture of me with our guide and a Brazilian tourist that was taken right after I fell. You will see our guide holding my arm. When I slipped on the red clay type ground that covers everything, I fell flat on my back and ruined my shorts. With mud all over me he insisted on taking care of me for the rest of the day. He even wiped me off with the shirt off his back. I kept trying to say no, that I had a towel, but he wouldn�t hear it.
Our last stop was a hike through an underground cave. Our guide turned off the lamp toward the end so we could experience blindness, and man, it was DARK. You couldn�t see your hand half an inch from your face. Then to climb out we had pretty much 35 feet of vertical climb up rocks. We were lead through the safest route, but by that point we were so exhausted! There was even more hiking out after that, but that was just straight uphill. By the time we got back to town it was 8:30 at night. What a full day we had. Exhausted and dreading our bus trip back to Salvador that night, we had a final dinner with our Israeli friends. Then we showered and came back.
Nina and I caught the same bus, but Theresa had to wait a half hour for another one as they were completely out of seats. We were all the way to the back in ours, and ended up getting harassed by a drunk local guy. He kept bothering us, getting with an inch of my face blabbering in Portuguese, and we never understood him. Finally he passed out with his bottle rolling around on the ground. Back in Salvador the next day we went to the mall, then Theresa and I met up with other Semester at Sea students and went out to a reggae club with a great live band. You could tell most of the locals that went there were in the lowest class, and it was all outdoors. We danced our asses off until about 2 when they closed. Then we walked around to find a massive block party in old Salvador. I learned to Samba and brought back my salsa skills I had learned in Havana. At one point I was dancing with a local guy and we had a little audience around us. There was also this drunk woman who ran up to Theresa and I to give us a giant bear hug, and she watched out for us the whole night. Whenever a guy from one of the lower classes tried to dance with us, she shooed him off (we couldn�t have cared less, but we liked hanging out with her). I employed the sentence �tengo esposo� numerous times that night, which roughly means I have a husband. It was all in all a great time.
The next day we did some shopping around Salvador, then went to a soccer game independently (there were a couple semester at sea groups going). There were five of us, four girls and a guy, and the guy annoyed me terribly because he was the most paranoid about us getting robbed or something. The soccer game was a lot of fun, but I was surprised to find the arena wasn�t packed. We heard it was because the two teams that were playing weren�t very good, and one of them was actually a brand new team. None the less, I got to see a professional soccer game in the soccer capital of the world, so I am very glad. Anyway, since this is so long I am going to send the pictures in a separate email. I miss you guys and I�ll talk to you soon,
Love Kirsten
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Brazil
Keep the current events coming, I feel completely cut off from the world. At times that is very nice, but I would like to have some idea of what is going on. Listen to this about Survivor: the people that went to the Amazon for their Brazil trip got a tour of the sites where the two tribes lived. I tell you what, I would give anything to be able to watch a regular tv show, full of commercials and everything. Survivor would be ideal. Anyway, Nina had a good time in Brazil.
The Brazilian guy in the picture was a tourist. He calls himself a �jungle boy� from a big city (Brasilia) and travels by himself a few months a year. He grew up in South Africa even though he was born in Brazil, so he spoke perfect English. He ended up being our translator the whole day because our guide only spoke broken English. I am sending home some pictures with two cds that Theresa printed out for me from her computer. One is from the soccer game, there was a brilliant rainbow above the stadium that must have been there for 15 minutes. If you look closely you will see a second rainbow above it, but that one is much dimmer. Another picture is from the Bahamas, it is me, Theresa and our other roommate Rachel in the hotel room. The last one is from Neptune Day, it is of me, Theresa and Nina with the crap dumped on our heads. There are a couple more I am going to try to get Theresa to print out for me from Brazil. But keep these pictures, I don�t want to lose them.
I wanted to tell you about the Israelis we met. They are 22, and spending eight months backpacking South America. They said it is very common for Israelis to spend a year traveling after they get out of the military (everyone, including girls, are required to serve for two years), before going to University. So common, in fact, that a number of people who work in the tourist industry learn Hebrew. It was so interesting discussing politics with them. They are both very liberal, saying that the dispute over land with the Palestinians is stupid and Israel should just give them the land. They aren�t prejudiced at all; we bantered about common experiences in Egypt for awhile. It was more dangerous for them to travel there though. But they are very knowledgeable on current events and we discussed USA/Israel relations. The guy wants to study international politics, so we had some in depth conversations. It was funny too because apparently Israelis are know for being hard-ass bargainers. Whenever someone would give us a price for something one of them would be like, okay, now what is the Israeli price? People in Brazil tend to try to rip you off, giving you one initial price then upping it when it is time to pay. These two had none of that, they would argue forever. They said everything works like that in Israel, and tourists have no idea how badly they are getting ripped there. The three of us tended to do okay in the bargaining department though. For everything we did we had the lowest price of anyone we talked to on the ship. Some people got very ripped off. It makes me chuckle to think I got such a better price, but then I realize that I most likely got terribly ripped off anyway. It is really just a game. I went back and forth with a lady in the market for a belt over one Real. She started at ten Reals, I countered with five. She finally went down to six, and I kept trying to be stubborn, but finally I gave in. I�m sure if a local wanted to buy it they would pay one or two Reals.
Its like the crime everyone talks about in Salvador. Our interport lecturer said yeah, everyone is trying to grab some cash from anyone being sloppy with it. That is part of the fun, he said. If you really want to fit in, join in the game. He made us all laugh when he commented on all the crap Americans tend to carry. Brazilians have their little game and therefore carry absolutely nothing. Americans are easy to spot with their water bottles, cameras, and purses or bags. He said Brazilians think that Americans secretly fear a flood so we always have water bottles. I am very excited for South Africa now. I am doing Project Hunger into the Township. Most people couldn�t get on that trip as there is such a high demand, but I lucked out because it is an FDP for my Political Science class. Other than that, I am traveling independently with my friend Pete.
Anyway, I have rambled too much. I miss you and I�ll talk to you soon.
Love Kirsten
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Ship Life
Hey there! I am not exactly sure what Operation Hunger is. Staff member Jerry told me we will spend some time weighing kids. He thinks the Polaroid camera is an excellent idea. I think I am going to bring my purse to carry stuff. I know it is a little dangerous, but my past experiences lead me to think that groups of Semester at Sea students, like there will be at Operation Hunger, are very safe from pick-pocketing and crime.
I am sending a couple pictures with this email. One is of a Lencois street that I absolutely love. It shows the mountains set behind the colorful and lively cobblestone downtown road. The other is of an image downstream from the waterfall in the picture I sent you earlier. When you get the cd there are some really great panoramic shots to take a look at, and also the rock slide waterfall that I said I would send but haven't yet (I might send that one with my next email).
Every night in the union we have what is called a "community college" where a professor or somebody knowledgeable gives a lecture on some kind of topic. Last night we had one on Iraq, and boy the anti-war sentiment in the room was almost universal. When it was time for questions, one elderly lady went to the mic, not with a question but with comments about how being against the war doesn't make someone anti-patriotic, or have any less love for their country. She ended up telling a story about how her husband was persecuted for being a communist during the McCarthy era, but he was lucky enough to take his case to the US Supreme Court and win! That was an incredible story. Another woman spoke until she cried, making a few ladies in the audience tear up (including Theresa) about how the world sees the United States' actions.
There are people here who have worked with refugees and really seen the horrors that wars cause who have told stories that are making even some very conservative people I have spoken with have second thoughts. I think that just being outside the borders of the United States automatically forces people to see things through a million different perspectives, in terms of different cultures and nations.
The community colleges are very interesting. Tonight I went to one on geology, which was fantastic, and the other night one on Frida Kahlo. I have learned a little about her in my art history class when we did Latin American art, but after the community college I am fascinated by her. You should rent the movie Frida, I think with Selma Hayak, everyone involved with art says it is an amazing movie. If you do, let me know how it is. The "bug" class is going very well. It isn't really an entomology class, but at the start of every class the professor goes over a type of insect just because he is so interested in insects himself (he has a PhD in entomology). The rest of the class is really on ecology, which I love. Even the insect stuff is a little interesting, but I love learning about nature and gaining an understanding of the physical world (hence the geology community college).
The class with the most work is my art history class. The amount of reading for that class is unbelievable. It is an extremely interesting class though; I am learning a great deal about culture and even a bit of history just as ways of setting up the art produced in different cultures. My favorite place to study is outside on deck. There is a side walkway where few people go and it is usually quiet as the people who are there are either reading or writing in their journals. I pull a chair right up to the railing, which probably isn't a good idea because I am constantly distracted by the ocean. You wouldn't believe how quickly it changes colors, and it is always beautiful. Anyhow, I'll talk to you soon.
Love Kirsten
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South Africa
Today I also had a long phone call from our daughter Kirsten. She informed me that she also went skydiving this morning. She loved it.
She indicates that Cape Town is a very cosmopolitan town and she is enjoying every minute. She climbed Table Mountain and was hoping to go horseback riding. She hadn't slept in over two days.
I asked her if she had sent me her CD with photos and movies as I asked her to (since I am vicariously enjoying her trip through her photos and emails). I told her to send the CD Federal Express. She said she discovered it was going to cost her $70 to send them Federal Express so she just sent them regular mail. (The last time she was on a similar trip, to Eygpt, she mailed two postcards, and we only received one, a couple of months after she had returned, thank goodness for email. Incidently, I have never been out of the country so I am glued to the board every day to hear about every students latest adventure.) I told her I would pay for the cost and she promised to send her next CD from India Federal Express.
We had a great conversation and she is looking forward to going on her Operation Hunger excursion. Once the ship leaves Cape Town she promised to give me a detailed account of her latest adventures in her next email.
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South Africa
Hey Fam!
My next couple days in Cape Town were just as incredible as the first two. And I forgot to tell you that the night before we went skydiving, a bunch of us went out to dinner. Four of us ordered weird things; I got ostrich, someone else ordered crocodile, another person eland, and the last shark. I ate all of my ostrich, it was good, but by far eland was the best. Crocodile was okay, pretty chewy, and shark just tasted like seafood to me, so I wasn�t a big fan. Anyway, I took a tour around Cape Point on Friday. That included taking a boat out to an island of seals, going to a tropical beach full of penguins, mountain biking to a beach for lunch, hiking up to the highest lighthouse in South Africa, seeing baboons, and hiking around Cape Point, the Southwesterly most point of Africa. It was beautiful, but yes very touristy. In our group though, Peter and I were the only Americans.
Everyone was a backpacker from either somewhere in Europe or Australia. Our guide was so interesting, she had spent 15 months backpacking Africa. I actually learned a lot on the tour, such as English is only the 5th most commonly spoken language in South Africa. Also, only 13% of South Africans pay taxes. It really shows you that the real South Africa isn�t the white, touristy parts making up Cape Town and Johannesburg. I know I should have gotten out of Cape Town, but the truth is we aren�t in port long enough to start backpacking around. What I know is someday I am coming back to South Africa and spending a lot of time there. I want to backpack Africa in general. There is an aura to Africa that I just love and want to be a part of.
Anyway, Project Hunger was amazing. Only a few people actually got to help weigh the kids; the rest of us were just there to get to know them. The Polaroid pictures went over both well and crappy. At first I just took a few for some parents with their kids. Then the swarm of kids got wind of what I was doing and mobbed me. I ran out of film quickly and went back to the bus to get more. When I got off they were waiting for me at the door. I couldn�t move at all and disturbed the weighing process which was right by the bus. I felt terrible about that. I pushed my way to the end of the line where kids end up after going through all the stages of Project Hunger. I said I would only take pictures if they had their weights written on their hands indicating they had gone through everything. At first it worked well because most hadn�t yet gone through, but once everyone had I would have a mass of hands being shoved in my face. I always took the pictures of the mothers with their babies first. One Semester at Sea girl came up to me and said that there was a woman who wanted a picture with her baby but didn�t want to approach me because she felt bad for me. I found her and took a picture, and she was literally in tears when it came out. That was really cool. In the end though, I didn�t even use the last role of film. All the parents had their pictures and there was just the same group of kids around me screaming. I am pretty sure I probably gave a couple kids more than one and some kids didn�t get any. I just didn�t plan it well enough, I should have set it up to give them a mark so I would know. It wouldn�t have made much difference though, because I didn�t have enough for all the kids (there were over a hundred kids). When I finally ran out of the last thing of film I was going to use I wanted to cry. Being at the center of that mob was heart-wrenching, and I was overcome with emotion once it dissipated and I had a second to think. After that I got out the digital camera. The kids would still ask to have their pictures taken. What I am going to do is get the name of the village from my professor and send the pictures there. I used almost an entire cartridge just of pictures of those kids. The kids themselves were unbelievably sweet. They are clearly starved for affection. Nina, who is a child psychology major, says it is because their mothers have so many kids that they have to start taking care of each other as she is always busy with the youngest. But they wanted to constantly be hugged, held, or to hold onto our hands. At every chance I had a free hand I was rubbing some little kids back. There was one little girl who attached herself to me, and at one point while I was holding two other kids� hands she ran up and pushed one of the kids away. She didn�t speak a word of English (some of the kids spoke broken English) but she continuously tried to talk to me. She had the sweetest little voice, but man, was she feisty.
After we left the first place, our Project Hunger leader took us to a couple other places just to observe. The first was to a township with a school that teaches the little girls a very impressive dance. Apparently it is very famous; Nelson Mandela always requests to see them when he is around. I have a bunch of movies of them. You will be amazed. After that we visited a witch doctor. I got the impression that he is a scam artist. He sells these herbs which are very expensive and claims that the only way a person can be a witch doctor is if they are "called." He treats everything, from AIDS to poverty. I was impressed though with the fact that he admitted AIDS is sexually transmitted. He said everyone does know that. And in the end I have to admit it is true that the mind is very powerful, and if someone believes it enough, those herbs probably do work. He said that is the only way they will work, and so westerners use them it doesn�t work and he gets the reputation of being a fraud. But apparently in the townships it works. I don�t know to what degree it works though.
After that we visited a Rastafarian community, where everyone was hippies and friendly. We were given a little reggae concert in a schoolyard where a bunch of little girls were playing basketball in bare feet. Then we came back to the ship. Once everyone was on, a local choir gave us a free concert which was also very impressive. I have to say that African music is very very good, especially after you learn a little about it and listen for the little nuances. But the choir was acupela and you wouldn�t even know it by just listening. They were jamming and dancing along with it. Everyone in the audience was cheering and clapping along with them. Needless to say, everyone was very sad to leave.
I am very excited for Tanzania, but I really wish we had more time in South Africa. Anyway, that is my trip. I am sure after I send this I will think of a million more things I want to tell you and send another huge email in a couple days. I�ll talk to you guys soon,
Love Kirsten
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Ship Life and South Africa
Hey guys!
The reason I didn�t include the first couple days of South Africa in my last email is because I thought I told you everything over the phone. I have been busy on the ship with a Biology test and the "Un-Olympics" (which ended tonight). The good news is my deck won the competition, so I get to be among the first to depart the ship in Seattle. Apparently that is very lucky � it has taken up to twelve hours in the past to disembark. I competed in the relay race competition. I had to spin around five times and crab walk backwards. We came in third in that competition. I am not sure how many competitions there were total, but there were a lot. After they announced who won tonight we had a talent show. The acts were great. A couple of stand-up comedians were hysterical, some musicians were also very good. Most wrote their own music, sang, and played an instrument, some poets, and a few others. I was very impressed with just about everything.
Alright, going back to South Africa, I need to think a minute. The first day I wandered around the city with Peter and went up Table Mountain. We got lunch in downtown Cape Town at a Moroccan restaurant and followed up a great meal with a little Shisha (not sure how to spell that, but you get the idea). Table Mountain was just beautiful. We hiked around the top for about three hours. Neither of us were prepared for that since we were taking the cable car up. In shorts, tank tops and sandals we froze our buns off. We both ended up with rainy noses. Every once in a while the sun would poke out to warm us a bit it felt like heaven. But we worked our way along a trail that went to the highest peak of Table Mountain. We constantly wandered off course to take pictures and see what else we could discover. At points we were "hiking" (by hiking I mean climbing straight up on boulders) about six inches from a shear drop off. At this point I knew I was sky diving the next day, and it didn�t comfort me to see that I got a bit sketchy that close to the edge.
That night we met some other people for dinner. I told you in the last email what we ordered. Very tasty. Nina wasn�t brave enough to order anything weird, but she tried all of ours. After dinner we went out for drinks at a bar with a live jazz band (I was in heaven). After they were finished we headed out to a club that was absolutely huge. It had four floors, each with its own bar and dance floor. I stuck to the techno floor most of the night (and by most of the night I mean we were there all night), but most of my friends got tired of it and stuck around the bump and grind floor. There were some other Semester at Sea students there, so that was kind of a bummer, but the place was packed with European backpackers and local people. I really enjoy hanging out with South Africans; every person I met left a good impression on me.
I had an hour to sleep that night, but I couldn�t relax long enough to actually sleep. I was paranoid that I would sleep through sky diving. When I went to pick up Peter he was sleeping, so it�s a good thing I didn�t count on him to wake me up. At the drop zone Peter and I were put in the third heap of jumpers. Waiting around wasn�t the funnest thing I have done, but I was glad to see everyone else when they landed. The first group said it wasn�t scary at all, that we would love it, and the second group said they were all about to crap their pants it was so scary but it was still awesome and we would love it. I was pumped when they finally led us down the runway to the plane. Right before I stepped onto the wing of the plane the guy I was strapped to said something to the effect of "I am about to witness the moment your life changed" (I was a bit too distracted to concentrate on, and remember, everything he said). I can�t really decide if he was right. Sky diving was one of the most exciting things I have ever done; hopefully I won�t turn into too bad of an adrenaline junky. But I wouldn�t say it affected me on any kind of a spiritual level or anything. It didn�t really change me as a person. Anyway, later I was talking to a girl on the ship who is a professional sky diver. Before we docked in South Africa she had warned everyone not to sky dive there, that the regulations weren�t good enough. I talked to her before making the jump and she was much more optimistic about everything after gaining some information first hand. But man, after I told her my story she felt a lot better about her warning. The agency I went up with didn�t send out a safety jumper (in case something happens to one of the guys the safety jumper can take care of the customer), there was no safety class, and at least one of the planes didn�t have a door. Haha, oops. These don�t sound like ultra serious concerns to me (the safety shoots will automatically go off if the normal one isn�t pulled) so I am okay with it. Freefall itself was just too cool. At first I had to stand with both feet on the wing of the plane and hold onto my safety straps while I waited for my guy to let go of the plane. When he did we somersaulted a few times. He was supposed to tap my shoulder when I could let go of my harness and spread my arms out, but I never felt it. He just ended up grabbing my hands away. I think he thought I was freaked out or something because he gave me two thumbs up. I quickly responded with my thumbs up. That took some concentration because the wind was coming up at me so fast that I really couldn�t move much of my body. I had my legs spread out, and about half-way through I remembered that I was supposed to keep them together tucked up between his legs, so I moved them. I heard that when a person is tense they spin the whole freefall; if that is true I must have been relatively relaxed because we went straight down. When he pulled the shoot I couldn�t believe how fast the ride was over. After such a long anticipation (I am talking about the years I went through wanting to sky dive) the whole thing was done in the blink of an eye. I don�t remember really feeling scared on the way down. The only thing that was uncomfortable was the difficulty I felt breathing. I had my eyes open the entire time (after the initial couple seconds waiting to fall from the plane) and the ground looked so intense. It didn�t look as it did from the plane; its like the difference in looking at the view from an elevated place after driving up, and then seeing the same view after hiking up. You feel more a part of it in a way. It didn�t feel like I was falling for most of it because you hit terminal velocity pretty quick. Basically I was just hovering there, like a bird (I know, could I be any more clich�?). Anyway, I can see I have rambled about this long enough, but I just want to add one more thing. On the ground, as soon as I was unhooked from my guy I turned around and gave him a giant bear hug. Its funny how quickly you become attached to someone when your life is in their hands.
So I guess this is long enough. After skydiving, before where my last email begins, nothing much really happened. I wandered around by myself for awhile and slept a whole lot. But I am sending a picture of the little girls who danced for us in one of the squatter camps during Project Hunger. Until next time, I miss you and I�ll talk to you soon!
i
Love Kirsten
PS � Tanzania in two days baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Tanzania
Early this morning I received an email from Kirsten from an internet cafe in Dar es Salaam. She stated that Dar es Salaam reminds her of a "little" Cairo, but without the crazy taxi drivers. She does not leave for her Safari until tomorrow morning so is just exploring the city today.
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Tanzania
Hey Fam!
Alright, so Tanzania was the best experience yet, in terms of learning about the world and being challenged in every emotional way possible. The first day I was psyched to get off the ship, but they ended up holding us on for an extra couple hours for whatever reason. I was driving Nina nuts because I was so antsy to get off; I was worried about getting to the travel place too late because it was Sunday and the guy was only sticking around to wait for me.
Finally we got off the ship, but to get into town we had to take a shuttle to a local hotel. From there we found a cab. Nina got pretty nervous, the neighborhood looked pretty sketchy. Actually, Dar Es Salaam in general was pretty sketchy; almost everyone felt uncomfortable there. This area especially though was as far from touristy parts as it could have been and boy did we stick out like sore thumbs. But Tehsin, the guy who set my trip up, is such a friendly guy and went out of his way to point us in the right direction. He even exchanged money for us at a good rate, since all of the exchange boroughs were closed. Nina wanted to find an internet caf� so he told us about one that was a couple blocks from his office. On the street walking there, I have to admit I was pretty nervous too, but Nina seemed nervous so I tried to act like I knew what I was doing (the best way to get mugged is to act all nervous and confused).
The streets of Dar Es Salaam are just very different from anything we have seen thus far on the trip. They reminded me a bit of Cairo, except they are much less used to seeing tourists in Tanzania. It is just very dirty, run-down and fast paced. Americans attract so much attention and it makes everyone uncomfortable when we just want to walk down the streets and blend in. Not to mention that we attracted the attention of a ton of street crime. More than a few people got mugged. I wouldn�t even carry my camera in the city, so the only pictures I got are from Safari (I am counting on Jerry to get some good footage of town). Anyway, I strayed off the point. We used the internet caf�, and that is when you got the first email from me.
After that, at Tehsin�s suggestion, we went to the Village Museum (almost everything else was closed on account of it being Sunday). The village museum was pretty cool. There are numerous ethnic groups native to Tanzania, and the museum had 14 huts built, each one from a different tribe, with information on how they were made and what different purposes various features served. We were also shown a native dance. Really, though, the best part was chatting with a couple Rastafarian guys who worked there. At this place they are very used to seeing tourists, but no doubt these two were just interested in the two young American girls there by themselves. Nonetheless, they were very friendly and welcoming. I ended up trading a bracelet I had bought in Brazil for a bracelet one of the guys had on. Actually, he just wanted to give me his, so I traded. After we went through the museum Nina and I wanted cokes. We went to the caf� at the place and got some, as one of the Rastafarians went to get us a cab. He came back and we went to leave, trying to take the cokes with us not realizing that the people get deposits for them. The woman who worked there started to try to stop us, but one of the guys (the other had left a while ago to sing in his band) told her he a couple extra coke bottles that he would replace those with. I was blown away by how out of his way this guy had gone for us throughout the day. He had been our tour guide earlier and didn�t want any kind of a tip, then was going to pay for us to take these coke bottles. I mean, these people are hungry, they don�t make a lot of money, but they were genuine none-the-less. Anyway, we went back to the ship then and met up with Theresa for dinner. We headed back out after to get drinks.
We met up with Peter and headed to the Royal Palm Hotel (or Palm Royal, I kept getting that reversed), where Peter ran into his world music professor. She recommended some local night spots with good live music. We decided to go to one of those places later. We hung out at the hotel for a while first, met up with some other Semester at Sea people, sent Nina back to the ship (she isn�t much of a night owl), and the rest of us headed out. Peter had met a very pretty, intelligent Kenyan girl so she came with us. We ended up filling up two cabs, and when we got to the spot we could see immediately that no tourist had ever been here. My cab consisted of me, Theresa, Peter and his friend, and we all jumped out and walked to the other cab to collect the rest of our party. Those people were very sketched out about the place, but we convinced them to get out, that everything was fine. They were hesitant because their cab driver had told them it might not be safe for us, which was ridiculous no matter how much we stuck out.
Anyway, we got swarmed at first, but there were a couple guards that shooed all the beggars away from us. We paid and went inside, and were happy to see a huge courtyard with a live reggae/samba type band and about 200 people dancing and having a great time. We received such a friendly greeting there � the owner wanted to announce to everyone that we were there (he said he was honored that we would want to be there). We told him no, it probably wasn�t a good idea to draw attention to us, but we all hung out with him a lot that night. We all bought some Tanzanian beer and went out to dance the night away. The coolest part about it was just how welcoming the people were; they were all dancing with us, and it wasn�t like at clubs in the other ports where the girls just got harassed by drunk guys. Everyone was very conservative in there dancing and just wanted to have fun. I�m sure the fact that people were very drunk influenced their friendliness.
At the end of the night I started talking to this girl who spoke perfect English and her brother who struggled a bit. She works for one of the touristy hotels in the area, and wanted to show me around the city. I told her I was leaving on safari, but she gave me her phone number anyway and said to call her when I got back. I tried a few times but I could never get hold of her. I was pretty disappointed, she was very cool.
Anyway, I left with some of the other people (Theresa, Peter and a few others found another club when that one closed). I was with a guy and two girls, and the two girls were the biggest twits, they were annoying me so badly. We couldn�t get the cab driver to take us to the right place, so we finally had him take us to a hotel so we could find another cab. While the guy and I went out and actively tried to find a cab while bargaining so we wouldn�t get ripped off, the two girls just complained all night. I have serious issues with girls, or just people in general, who wait for everyone else to take care of them. It turned out that the cab could only drop us off at the gate to the port, and we had to walk about 15 minutes back to the ship.
I ran into some other people that I know, and they told me about how at the club they went to, they saw a lot of people wearing t-shirts with images of the twin towers on fire and at the bottom it said �I support terrorism.� I wasn�t too shocked (earlier, Nina�s and my cab had driven by the old American embassy that was bombed), except that I had encountered the exact opposite; everyone I spoke to about it was genuinely opposed to terrorism (of course, as most people are) and even though they hate Saddam Hussein themselves, they are opposed to the war in Iraq. People in the third world might be poor, but they are not ignorant or stupid. In every conversation I got into with people (and I got into more than a few) I was surprised at knowledgeable the person was about world issues. At least, that was the case in Dar. Rural areas are a different story.
The next morning I left on safari. My flight to Arusha was pretty commercial, but my flight to the Serengeti was awesome. I was in a tiny plane, just me, one pilot, and a couple who we ended up dropping off half-way to where I was going. We didn�t fly that high, so I had a great view the whole time. The lodge where I was staying was in the middle of where you would go on safari; no other signs of civilization, and there were animals just wandering the premises. There wasn�t a fence or anything. My room was so perfect, an entire wall was a window that looked out into the Serengeti, and it opened. My porter told me not to leave it open for too long because the baboons would come in and go through my stuff. Baboons are quite a pest both in South Africa and Tanzania, but I still think they are adorable. I ate lunch right after I checked in. The restaurant was very quiet, very nice, and open so there were birds flying around. At one point, baboons got in and the waiters had to chase them out. There were very few other guests. I went on a game drive the rest of the afternoon. I�ll have to show you pictures because there isn�t much to say about that except that it was a lot of fun.
After, I was exhausted from not sleeping the previous two nights, and went to take a nap before dinner. I should have known the entire scene was a little too good to be true. I was jolted awake by the sound of loud, American voices cussing and whining. I went outside to find a Semester at Sea group not only staying in, and filling up, the lodge, but they were also on my balloon safari! I can�t put into words how disappointed I was. I actually had a lot of friends on that particular trip, so it was nice to see them, but this trip also had the alcoholics. That night they got trashed and kept all the guests of the lodge up all night. People complained. It turns out that that trip got in trouble at almost every stop for causing so much trouble and just embarrassing the students and faculty who didn�t appreciate these kids representing Americans in that way. A lot of people talked about it during open-mic night tonight on Tanzania. These places are full of European tourists just having all of their stereotypes about Americans confirmed.
The next morning, after again a night of no sleep, we woke at five to do the hot air balloon. That was so cool, but you might be disappointed that we didn�t go that high. The higher you go, the faster you go, and we wanted our trip to last as long possible. But if I can I am going to send you a picture of the sunrise because it was just spectacular. After the balloon, I sat in the Serengeti for an hour and drove to the airport. It was all over so fast, but I was glad to be going back to Dar. By the way, have you heard about fires in Africa? We learned about it in Core, but flying over it you would be shocked by what you saw. There must have been evidence of 25 fires just under where I flew. They get started for various reasons, including to kill bees and bring rain.
The next day I woke up early and went out to the city. I was at that point still trying to get a hold of the girl I had met the first night, so I got breakfast and coffee at a hotel while I read the local newspaper cover to cover. I did some shopping after that before heading back to the ship for lunch. I ate with a couple guys heading out to look at the mosques and Hindu temples of the area. I didn�t want to go with them (I was really starting to dig the lone travel thing, it is very nice to not have to worry about what anyone else wants to do) but I liked their idea. I ended up walking around the city with a guy I bought a cheap chess set from. He showed me mosques and temples and even a number of other points of interest. He wanted a tip but he said only if I could afford it. He was a very nice guy. Oh this is interesting, I saw swastikas all over the Hindu temples, and was very confused. I didn�t realize that Hitler stole the symbol from them.
Anyway, after that I met up with my friend Ilan and we got dinner at a local Chinese place. Do you remember when we went out to dinner at that African restaurant with Justin and Shannon, and they served that white, thick powdery mush stuff? Well, instead of rice I got that, and I find that I like it much better. Ilan told me about he was mugged the day before. He had been walking by himself and a guy came up behind him and grabbed him while two other guys went through his pockets. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a guy coming at him with a giant rock. He kept saying Salaam A Lakem (again, I cannot spell Arabic, but it means peace be upon you) and they finally went away. He was a bit shaken by it, but he didn�t let him hinder his trip. He had a cool experience though. He got in a cab and went to some random little village by himself for a couple nights. He inspired me to get myself back on track and do something like that in India.
I think the truth is I needed this experience in Tanzania to get my confidence up to travel so far off the beaten track, so to speak. I have also discovered that I enjoy being in cities. Where everyone complained about being uncomfortable in Dar, I found it to be very exciting. Walking around there, you are definitely well beyond any range of your comfort zone previously tested, but you just force yourself to look beyond that and see the culture underneath it all. I think I am subconsciously searching for a city half as exciting as Cairo, because I have yet to find one. Granted, Cairo is a huge city, but there is something about it. Maybe I just think that because it was my first big culture shock.
The last morning I went to a grocery store with Ilan and another girl named Melinda and bought some food for the ship. Then at eleven we met back at the ship for a last minute trip to a local university. There I had a great conversation with a guy who grew up in Kilimenjaro (I have no idea how to spell that), which, by the way, I could see from the Arusha airport. Let me tell you, I have never seen a mountain that big. If I climb any mountain in my life, I want it to be that one. But I digress.
In Tanzania, the government pays for everything when someone goes to this particular university. The only thing is, to get in people have to work very hard in �high school� and pass all kinds of tests. Then they only have three years to earn their degree, so they are overloaded with work. At the end of all that, they probably won�t be able to find a job anyway. If they want to continue with school they have to pay for it themselves. This particular guy had, in addition, spent five years in seminary school (he seemed to be a devout Christian, but he wasn�t preachy at all). But with him and the other students I spoke with, I have so much respect for those students. These are people who grew up poor and hungry, with the situation getting worse, and most of their peers stopped going to school so they could work or whatnot, but they stuck it out to get educated. I am amazed at the things people endure on a daily basis yet still manage to come out of successful. Oh, and the guy I talked to most of the time grew on a farm as most people do in Tanzania, or at least in rural areas, and he mentioned that the climate has been changing since the 80s and thus hurting the agriculture of Tanzania. What also hurt was the economic boom of the 90s. This is something that I learned more in Core, but saw evidence of here. First world countries, in the form of the WTO, enacted all these rules that would benefit them and hurt developing countries. Thus the price for coffee, what this guy�s father farmed, had plummeted. Anyway, I exchanged emails with this guy. He is climbing Mt. Kilimenjaro later this year and promised to send me snapshots from the summit.
The rest of the day I spent with Theresa, who had just gotten back from her safari. We went to the hotel we went to the first night for drinks and met some other SAS students there. We ran into the girl we had gone out with the first night; she was waiting for Peter who was supposed to meet her when he got back from Safari. We waited with her, but when he showed up we gave them privacy. You wouldn�t think that two people from such vastly different regions would be able to find a way to relate, but they were adorable together. You could see that they were both sincerely smitten with each other.
Alright, I am sure I left out a ton of stuff I will remember later. I have already noticed that my perception of Africa has changed. I bought a Time magazine and I read a quote and a few other things mentioning Africa and I noticed myself very emotionally tied to what was being said. The funny thing is I can�t remember how I used to look at Africa, I just know my view has changed. I am also sure that this email is probably pretty incoherent, but my excuse is it is late and I am exhausted. I still haven�t caught up on sleep from Tanzania. So I am going to go to bed, but I�ll talk to you all soon. I miss you,
Love
Kirsten
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Tanzania
Hey guys,
Don�t worry, I had my camera on safari. I have some very cool shots. I am sending a picture of the sunrise. And maybe I didn�t say it directly before, but I absolutely loved Tanzania. I loved Dar and all the people I met; it really felt like I was in Africa. A lot of people have talked about negative experiences they had, where people were rude or unwelcoming to them, but my experiences were all the exact opposite. Everywhere I went people wanted to make sure I was okay, that I didn�t do various things that would get me in trouble or put me in danger, such as trade money on the streets, and would take the time to help me find whatever I was looking for. Much more so than any of the other ports, in my experience. Every time I smiled at someone I would get a big toothy grin in response; that is a rarity anywhere in the world. For example, the last night Theresa and I were trying to find an internet caf�. A couple of cab drivers approached us and asked if we wanted a ride anywhere. We didn�t, but they spent about five minutes giving us perfect directions to walk to an internet caf�. They even argued in Swahili about the best way for us to go. And I gave you the example about the cokes at the Village Museum.
For the most part, everyone spoke English. The main language of Tanzania is Swahili, but everyone speaks a native tong from their ethnic group as well. I didn�t ever have a problem communicating, but I tried to use Swahili words where I could. I was a bit lazy about it though, just because everyone spoke English and approached me with English.
Basically, my friends thought of Tanzania as a learning experience. It wasn�t a place to party and get wild (although many people found a way); there weren�t extreme sports for people to go out and do; it was just a lesson. For me, I have now been to three African countries, and for the most part they are all completely different. With the little that I have learned about the world economic situation in the world and how it affects Africa, it seems to me that Africa would be much better off to be one country, with a unified economy (this would wipe out competition amongst the smaller countries that drive the cost down for various exports that many different countries produce, and would give Africa a chance against the super powers with things like World Trade Organization rules). However, culturally, this isn�t going to happen any time in the near future.
Just some stats for you that I learned (Tanzanians were pretty proud of this stuff): Tanzania contains Africa�s tallest mountain, deepest lake, biggest lake, and biggest and most national parks. From now on, I will never think of Kenya when I think of African safaris.
Let me tell you a little about the balloon safari. By the way, I am glad I did my safari exactly how I did. A lot of people got cool village experiences with their independent safaris, but mine was a little too high class for that. I admit I missed out on that experience, but staying in that lodge in the middle of the Serengeti, and the whole hot air balloon thing, was such a nice experience. Anyway, we had to get in the basket of the balloon while it was on its side. It fit 16 people, plus the driver, and there were eight compartments that fit two people each. We climbed in and laid on our backs while the driver started exploding large fire balls over our heads. We dragged along the ground a lot, starting and stopping numerous times, before we finally made it up. That experience was exciting, you definitely felt a little vulnerable trapped in the basket like that as the very hot fire came very close the balloon physically. Had it caught fire, well ouch. But once we were up we tending to stay about 25 feet high, but I have pictures that give a pretty good idea of the height. When we landed, the crew had champagne waiting for us. When we all finished that, they drove us to another spot in the middle of the Serengeti where a table was set with very nice china for a full, fancy breakfast. They served exotic fruits, coffee, tea, champagne, juice, sausage eggs and other things that I can�t really describe (I am not sure what they were).
Daily life on the ship is pretty lazy. In the morning there is class, then the afternoon consists of combinations of naps, studying, movie watching, journal writing, and email typing. After dinner I usually sit in on the community college, where a different professor each night gives a lecture on one of various topics. My motivation for exercise is long gone. I get enough in port.
Well, I will talk more later. Love Kirsten
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India
Kirsten decided against seeing the sights in India and is planning on visiting local communities. She did send a new photo taken from the plane of the Serengeti which I put in "Pictures". Enclosed is her post. Portland dad
Every image I have of the balloon is in a movie, so I am sending you a picture from the plane instead. In India, I am traveling independently with my friend Peter. We are going to stay in Pondicherry, and go to Auroville, which is six miles outside Pondicherry. You should look up Auroville, it seems like a very interesting town. It is an international community where 2/3 of the population are American, European, Japanese or Russian. I am also going to Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram (I think those are the right spellings). All of these places are at least within four hours of Chennai. If you look these towns up you will get a lot better information than I can say, but they should all prove to be very interesting. Anyway, I have to write a paper. Miss ya!
Love Kirsten
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India
Hey guys!
The third day in India, Peter and I went to the train station around 10 in the morning. Our train didn�t leave for a couple hours, so we wandered around for awhile and I bought a newspaper.
The train ride was very cool. There are assigned seats, which you have to buy a few days in advance to get, and once they fill up 3rd class tickets are sold where you either go to the third class car (way over-filled) or wander around the second class cars and try to find a place to sit. We chose the latter, and ended up paying a worker to sit some place. The next stop after we sat there, two women got on who had those seats, but two guys across from us got up so the women could sit there and we could keep our seats. We spent the two hours on the train talking to everyone around us.
I had my Lonely Planet: India book out, and everyone at one point or another wanted to look at it. One of the guys who got up first bought us coffee, then took us to the meal car for lunch. We wanted to buy them lunch, but they wouldn�t have it; they were buying. They were very helpful in pointing us in the right direction after getting off the train as well. I have heard that Indians are so giving in that way because of Hinduism, and boy I noticed a lot, especially outside of Chennai.
At the train station in Villapuram, we decided to just hire a cab driver to take us to Pondicherry rather than take a bus. It was more expensive, but our cab was awesome. The cars were old fashioned � 40�s style � and all the interior (including the dash, roof, doors, seats, everything) was decked out in purple and black crushed-velvet. I thought I was going to die about 50 times during the hour long drive. We were on a one lane in each direction road, but with all the scooters, motorcyclists, bicycles, cars, and cow-pulled wagons there really were no lanes. You just stick as far left as possible, but are constantly swerving wherever you can fit to pass people. Generally the standard is if you have an inch of room, including between you and vehicles coming at you head-on, that is about the time to move. But we made it to Pondicherry in one piece.
There, our cabby took us to a pretty nice hotel. Not resorty, those were on the ocean, but pretty nice (the toilets were still holes in the floor, but hey, you can�t be too picky). Unfortunately, they wouldn�t let us stay there because we didn�t have our Passports. We had copies of our passports, but they wanted our Visa information, which we didn�t have copied. We went across the street to a little lodge, and after some heavy discussion they agreed to let us stay there. We were relieved, we thought we were going to have to bribe someone, and we didn�t want to waste our money on that.
We walked around Pondicherry for a while and got some coffee. For dinner we went to a very nice place and asked the waiter to give us something good, with the only stipulation that it be spicy. Our waiter served us well. On our way out we ran into an older couple from the ship. We talked for a bit, and they were going to go see a movie with us, but it turned out that the movie ended after the gates closed at their lodge (their lodge is for Ashrams, so there is a curfew and rules against smoking and alcohol). We left them and went out for drinks at a bar full of local guys. That was a blast, most people didn�t speak English, but everyone was friendly and excited to talk to us.
After we went to a Hindu movie which was absolutely hysterical. It was made in Hindi but dubbed in Tamil (the language of the Chennai area) so it was even funnier because their mouths didn�t match what was said. The movie didn�t have subtitles so we couldn�t understand anything, but we saw a lot of random fighting scenes, random singing and dancing, and every once in a while an English word would pop up. I am going to try and find some Indian DVDs in Vietnam because it was awesome.
The next morning we slept in until eight. We were so gross, we didn�t want to use the shower so we woke up and pretty much just left as we were. We went to a cheap restaurant full of locals for breakfast, then went to rent scooters for the day.
At first we got two, but after about ten minutes I told Peter I was out of my league and wanted to return mine. We did, and I rode on the back of Peter�s back to the lodge so we could check out. We were going to take our backpacks on the scooter back to the scooter place (they had agreed to hold them for us for the day) but after hitting a parked car because they hindered Peter�s steering, I took a rickshaw with them.
Then we went scootered to a couple Hindu temples. We had to take our shoes off, and the ground was very hot as the temples are mostly not covered. I would hop to under cover areas because my feet were burning. The temples themselves were beautiful. I never knew how colorful and animated the artwork and architecture was of Hindu temples before walking through one (believe it or not, we didn�t discuss it in my art and architecture class, we really only talked about ancient sites and the Taj Mahal).
After that we hit the highway to Auroville. Let me just say that I have never in my life been so scared. There was one point where I let out an ear-piercing, child-like scream. A car was trying to pass something in front of it and swerved directly in front of us. Peter acted shocked when the car was right at us and quickly moved to swerve out of the way, but I thought he was too late. That car was so close to us, I was so sure I was dead. Anyway, I was relieved when we finally got to a dirt road that wasn�t busy. Ironically, though, that is exactly where we crashed. For reason unbeknownst to me, Peter decided to get off the road and drive on the side. Directly in front of us was a ditch about a foot deep. I was sure Peter would move as he always did at the last minute, but when we were almost at it I yelled at him to move. It turns out he hadn�t noticed it before, so he goes "Oh shit, ditch!" We hit it and Peter flew over the top; I managed to roll somewhat to the side. We stood up laughing, relieved that we were okay, but I decided then that there was no way I was getting back on that deathtrap on the highway. If Peter could make minor errors on sidestreets, he could make them on the highway; I had no confidence in his instincts at that point, and it didn�t help that he had never driven a scooter before. Plus, I was making Peter very nervous just by being nervous behind him, and I knew he wanted to go do crazy things to get his adrenaline rush that he couldn�t do with me freaking out.
Anyway, we drove the rest of the way to the Auroville visitor�s center and got lunch. The rest of our time in Auroville was spent learning about this "international community" and their loyalty to "the mother." So they are a cult. It was funny. The best part was going to see the matrimandir, which is this shrine in the center of town for the mother and Aurobindo, the mother�s husband. The matrimandir is the meditation center for the community. It was so weird, they wouldn�t let us take cameras and we had to walk single file on the left side of the path through the garden. Every ten feet was a cult member watching to make sure we didn�t wander away or speak or do anything bad. The matrimandir itself was this giant old-omsi type sphere. We had to take our shoes off to go inside, where we walked up this spiraling ramp. At the top, it is set up so you are hot and sweaty and your feet hurt from the hot, rough cement of the ramp.
All of a sudden, you are walking on cushioned velvet, and a doorway appears before you. Cold air hits you, and you look in to see a white, misty room with white columns extending to the ceiling around a crystal ball in the center. A beam of light shines straight down from the sun, and it only touches the crystal. It turns out that the crystal is the symbol of the mother. That night we took a cab back to Chennai, went out to dinner, and went to bed.
The next day I went out shopping with Theresa and another girl named Katherine. We hired a pair rickshaw drivers who work together for the day who were really awesome. They took us around to expensive stores to look, not buy, so that they could get some kickbacks, then they took us to a very well-priced store that Indians shop at. I have to admit, I did some shopping. You guys are going to get a little bill. But mom, you will love the stuff. I couldn�t help it, everything in India is so beautiful. Anyway, we took our rickshaw drivers out for pizza (I couldn�t convince them that Indian food was better) and then returned to the ship. I am sending a picture of us with the rickshaw drivers and some local kids.
Talk soon, love ya!
Kirsten