I'm on a boat: Semester at Sea 2010

Actually it isn’t the end, it is a new beginning. As I am writing this I am on the ship waiting to get off at Norfolk, Virginia. It has been a crazy past few days of packing, listening to seminars on helping us adjust back to life at home and how we can continue to travel, and the goodbyes. I have learned that I have the travel bug and that this isn’t the end of traveling for me. There is no better way to learn about yourself than to be engulfed in a new surrounding, a new culture, and a new language. Being challenged time and time again to extend your borders and leave everything you knew for the unknown. Traveling is about that one local you will meet who will change your view of the world forever.

I have changed. I look at things from different angles, I look at myself differently and I understand the power that each individual has in creating awareness. I understand that I may not be able to change the world, but I can create awareness. Happiness isn’t found in materials things but in the experiences that life has to offer. I am excited to get back and research - research on where my next path will lead - graduate school, PeaceCorps, pursuing my art skills in Artist Colonies or working for a non-profit. I stepped onto this ship 68 days ago wanting answers. I will leave with not answers, but experiences and knowledge that will guide be on my next adventures.

From the deepest part of my heart, I sincerely thank you for allowing me to grow.

Day 67: Friday, August 20

So we had the idea to paint the countries flags that we have visited on our backs! I was the artist of the group so I painted everyone’s flags (except mine) with acrylic that was on the ship. It was a unique way to capture the 9 countries we visited in one picture!

Day 65: Wednesday, August 18

As one of our last shipboard events, the alumni ball is the night that we become alumni. We were served fine dining by the amazing waiter staff and danced under the stars on the top deck. And the best part of all was the desert buffet that everyone went bananas over!

This is Samantha Dee Van Gorder. Although she will soon be my enemy on the field, she does put a smile on my face.

photo courtesy of Tiffany Ly

Day 61: Saturday, August 14

Although I was not able to go to the bars for my 21st birthday, I was able to spend it on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which is pretty legit. And as the clock struck midnight mother nature put on a show. We went up to the top deck and watched a meteor shower. Lying on the deck with the lights off and my friends surrounding me, the only way it could have gotten any better is if my family was here. But as huge fireballs lit the nights sky, I couldn’t stop smiling. I was in such awe at mother natures beauty and I can’t believe I am 21…definitely don’t feel that old haha.

When I walked into my 8am class the next morning, my Anthropology teacher sang happy birthday to me, which was a nice surprise. And then at dinner I was surprised with an ice cream cake from all my friends on the ship. Ice cream is very hard to come by here, as is many other foods, and when we have it we get REALLY excited! Then our favorite waiter, Alan, gave me a flower made all cool out of a napkin. It meant a lot to me that everyone surprised me and made my day special.

The best waiter ever, Alan.

Day 57: Tuesday, August 10

This picture pretty much sums up the day - sitting at the Hassan II mosque and “chillen” as I would usually say. As you probably all know by now, I am in love with mosaics and this mosque had a ton of them. It was such a good way to spend my last day traveling and I could have sat there for hours. I got the chills sitting there thinking about this entire summer and how it is coming to a close. I think what I am going to miss the most is learning and living in such different cultures than my own. This has by far been the best summer of my life and it is a new beginning for me. I would like to end with this quote sent to me by my friend Katrina Seidel.

“In Africa, there is a concept known as ubuntu - the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.”

Day 55: Sunday, August 8

This morning we woke up to breakfast in our villa and yummy mint tea, which is the specialty tea of Morocco. Today was a day of exploring and walking around the streets of Marrakech. Our first stop was the souks - the bazaars of Morocco. There were so many unique finds and it was fun to bargain since we are pros with so much practice in previous countries. My favorite finds were a new leather pack with carpet design on it for school and a big star shaped lamp shade that I know is going to be difficult to get home, but definitely worth the hassle.

On our way to visiting a mosque, some monkeys plopped their way onto my friend Kevin and I’s shoulder. In the main square, there are women trying to paint henna on you, men playing some kind of wind instrument attempting to get the snake to rise, and men in colorful costumes trying to take a picture with you.

Around dinner time is when the same main square gets crazy busy. Food stalls appear and there are people everywhere you turn no matter what day of the week it is. At the food stalls, there are uncooked meat on skewers and vegetables galore. It reminded me of a huge Obon (Japanese festival in San Jose Japantown during the summer), which I unfortunately missed this year.

This is me about to order one of the best fresh squeezed orange juices I have ever had.

Day 56: Monday, August 9

This morning our group had to split because Sam, Tiffany, and I had an SAS trip with a Moroccan dinner at night so we had to catch an earlier train. But before leaving Marrakesh, we went to Jardin Majorelle which is one of the beautiful gardens of Morocco. The bright blues, and oranges, and yellows attracted my eye and I felt like I was transported into another world.

Back in Casablanca, we went with about 10 other SAS students to a Moroccan home where we were served a home cooked meal by a wonderful lady who was so generous as to feed all of us. Our meal included mint tea, pancake like bread, hard boiled eggs, and an amazing soup that she served to us in a huge calderon. We enjoyed talking and learning about her culture and getting this once in lifetime opportunity. She even turned on the TV and we were so entranced at the screen because we have not watched TV or any news in so long. It was a good way to end the night.

Day 54: Saturday, August 7

It is now the last country of the journey - pretty crazy. A group of 12 of us made our way to Marrakech, which is about 3 hours away. The trains were sold out so we decided to get our own huge taxi that could have fit 15 people! When we arrived it was a very new environment, with a wind storm blowing in everyones faces and really small unpaved streets. It was a lot harder to find our villa than we thought but we finally made it and it was pretty damn sweet. We had this entire villa to ourselves with a roof top terrace, small pool on the bottom level, and our very own gatekeeper. I was most in awe of the architecture. I definitely got a lot of inspiration of how I want my house to look like in the future!

At night we went to the biggest club in Africa, Pasha, and danced the night away.

Day 49 - Day 53: Monday, August 2 - Friday, August 6 After a fun-filled day of Sea Olympics we had to get back into school mode for 5 days straight. But there were definitely things to get our mind off of studies including: the Talent Show where students and faculty performed their skills - both the Academic Dean and Executive Dean rapped to the song “I’m On A Boat” which was pretty classic; a seminar called Real Talk which brought to the surface issues about racism and derogatory terms in order to bring awareness and make people conscious of what they are saying; and the Crew Talent Show! The crew includes the stewards, the waiters, the galley (chefs), and other people behind the scenes who makes this experience safe, clean, and possible for us. They are unbelievably talented and some of the voices brought tears to my eyes. This crew has become like family to us and it was nice to see them shine.

Day 48: Sunday, August 1st

This morning I woke up yellow. Granted I am Asian so I am naturally yellow but this morning was special. Today is the day where the entire ship gets spirited, competitive, and silly for Sea Olympics. The ship is divided into 10 seas by where your cabin is located. I am part of the yellow sea along with most of the girls in the picture above and my other friends are in the Mediterranean Sea (orange) and Aegean Sea (black). For those of you who are Greek - this is basically like Greek Week.

Some events included: Tug-O-War, Donut on a String, Relay Race, Crab Soccer, Lip Sync/Dance Concert and the best Synchronized Swimming which I competed in along with Laura and Tiffany. It was a team of 6 of us and we performed it in the tiny pool on the ship and it was pretty legit thanks to Laura who choreographed it! When I get back to school I will upload the video!

Day 46: Friday, July 30

Today we were back in Alexandria and did some site seeing at the catacombs (underground where the mummies were buried) and Pompey’s pillar. In the afternoon, we ended up at the local mall, which felt a lot like the malls in the states with familiar stores like: Nike, H&M, Starbucks, Lacoste, Aldo, Claire’s and even Cinnabon, which tasted like heaven in my mouth. The one thing that was different were the restrooms. I found that they have no sense of lines here and it is a free for all when someone comes out of the stall. And when I went to wash my hands all the 10 sinks were occupied by women fixing their head scarfs. It was apparent that I was a tourist. It is very interesting to observe simple things like going to the bathroom and how the social norms are different in every culture.

Our taxi driver from the first day in Egypt, Sherif, picked us up at the mall and drove us to dinner at a seafood restaurant! All 8 of us sat at dinner like a big family and when the food came out (family style) we ate like we have never seen food before. Rice, shrimp, fish, fried and cooked calamari, pita bread with 4 types of hummus, salad, and mango juice kept appearing in front of our bulging eyes. The best part was one of his daughters showed up to eat with us.

Day 47: Saturday, July 31

Dear Coach: I have been practicing my defensive stance against Egyptian men.

My dream came true today of playing soccer with the locals. One of the graduate students on the ship, Haley, is doing her research projects on the interaction of playing sports with locals. We had to identify if our views of the people and the culture changed after playing with them. And for me it did. In between the games we were able to talk with the locals and I talked a lot with the girl on my team, Salma Osama. She is eighteen years old and going to study Engineering at Alexandria University, where we played our game. She wore a Mickey Mouse tee, a long sleeve hooded jacket, jeans, and her head scarf as seen in the picture below.

Sophie and I were saying how we were so hot and she quickly laughed and stated, “Look at what I’m wearing!” She was so cute and it lightened up the mood and I felt comfortable to ask her more questions. I asked her if she always covers up and she explained that when she is in the house she wears shorts shorter than mine and it is only when she is out in public and there is a possibility that men can see her that she covers up. I enjoyed learning from her because, previously I viewed covering up as a sign of oppression on women. In Egypt, every woman I saw wore a head scarf and I often saw many wearing the entire gown. From talking with Salma, I learned that although covering up is part of the Muslim religion, she wants to do it and feels that it is more about respect than a duty.

To end our time in Egypt, in was only fair that we spent it with Sherif. “Grandpa” picked us up at our game and we met the rest of the gang at Sherif’s private beach. His entire family was there including his 3 daughters, son and his wife. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the water and building sand pyramids with his youngest daughter of 8. I am still amazed at how quickly Sherif became like family to us. I know to some it may sound super sketchy that we trusted our taxi driver, but once you are in, you are like family to these people. Family values are very strong is this culture and we were so grateful that we became a part of his.