Malaysia

Hi everybody,

This post is a little different -- more personal experiences. I also did three Semester at Sea Tours -- all very interesting. I learned how to tap a rubber tree, saw beautiful batiks, and visited temples, mosques and churches. It seems Malaysia is another country where many cultures, many religions all get along. It was hot and humid and they get lots of rain so it is beautifully green and lush. So here's goes . . . .

While in Malaysia, I realized how cynical I have become—even about wonderful people who were offering to assist me. Many times, and four events in particular, the Malay people were so very helpful, honest, kind, and considerate. At each of these times, I thought, “This is not possible—they plan to take advantage of me.” As I have related the following stories to friends on board, they have correctly said, “These are the memories you will remember the most.” And many passengers have also related heartwarming similar stories.

First, the Malaysian tour company came on board, changed our U.S.dollars to Malaysian ringgits, provided post cards plus postage to conveniently purchase and offered to mail the post cards. In this instance, I thought, “Can I trust them to really take them to the post office?” Yes, I decided I could, and I feel confident every post card was mailed.

For the second “miracle” which happened to me, I have to tell you about a huge mistake I made -- I left my camera in the ladies room at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel after a friend, Mike, and I had high tea. It was 11:00pm in my cabin when I discovered that I didn’t have my camera with me. I was trip leader for a tour the next day, so I asked Mike to go back to the hotel and ask if anyone had turned it in to Lost and Found—all the while thinking “that would never happen.” Mike graciously agreed, and when he asked the woman in the gift store (the store was across the hall from the restrooms and we had stopped in there to look at the merchandise) she said, yes, she had found it and took it to Lost and Found at the Front Desk. Mike retrieved the camera—there were two in the Lost and Found and he identified my camera because I had asked the waiter to take our picture. What other place in the world would that have happened? I am truly grateful for their honesty.

I was restless on the evening when I was waiting to find out if I would get my camera back, so I went out for a walk and started looking for a food market for some snacks. When I saw two Chinese women walking in front of me, I asked where I could find a market. One replied, “The market is far, my car is right here, get in and I’ll take you.” I wondered, “Will they kidnap me?” but decided to go with them. They took me to the market, one went in with me, and the other waited in the car until I finished shopping. I began asking the one in the market with me about the local food. I picked up some biscuits, and she said, “If you want these, we’ll take you to the bakery and you can buy them fresh.” I purchased a few things in the store and got back in the car and they took me to the bakery where I sampled the biscuits, decided they were delicious, and bought them. Then they insisted on bringing me back to the pier. How wonderful of them to help a foreigner. I expressed my gratitude for their time and the transportation. I told them as I got out of the car that I hoped that if they ever visited the U.S., they would find Americans as helpful as they were. Somehow, I doubt that visitors to the U.S. are greeted with such respect.

On my last day in Georgetown, I wanted to go to the Komtar Shopping mall. I had been told that the city bus went to that mall, so I found the correct one, told the driver I needed to be told when to get off and he politely agreed. When I wanted to return, I went to the same place I had gotten off the bus, but two drivers indicated I needed to take a different bus even though the sign on them said “Jetty.” I was looking bewildered in the bus terminal when the first driver I asked pulled along side me and indicated for me to get on the bus. He said, “I will show you where you need to be.” He dropped me off across the street and said, “Take the next bus.” I did and it came to the pier. It is amazing to me how everyone went out of their way to help a stranger.

Dear Malaysia, one of my most favorite ports, I will return. I feel there are many marvelous people/great adventures still to be experienced.

It's Tues. night at 8:15 pm and I am sitting in my office watching the Cultural Pre-Port on Viet Nam on closed circuit. We'll arrive in Viet Nam on Thursday morning. I think one of my Returned Peace Corps Volunteer friends, Jim, will meet me for dinner for Thursday evening. He travels to Viet Nam frequently, so he will be able to give me some good tips while visiting Viet Nam.

We have been anchored off shore near Singapore today because the captain said fuel costs were less here. For the first time tonight we get to set our clocks back one hour -- yeah, an extra hour of sleep!

We've been having trouble with accessing the internet (again) so I'll see if I can publish this.

My life is wonderful and I wish the same for you.

India

March 17 @ 9:00 am

We're half way through our voyage! I doesn't seem possible.

India, India, India . . . so large, so many cultures, so many languages, so many religions, great people, wonderful temples, so much good food, beautiful colors, rickshaws, cars, buses, traffic! trash almost everywhere, horrible smog, and extreme poverty and disease in many places (and also extreme wealth in the upper caste); it's difficult to describe. Many of the students looked for a word to describe their experiences and the word I heard most often was 'amazing'.

Since I had seen the Taj Mahal previously, I didn't make the trip to Delhi and Agra where most of the students chose to go. Instead I went to the 'Art of Living and Dakshinachitra Hertiage Village Stay' where 30 of us participated in an intensive course of yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and Eastern philosophy. (website: www.artofliving.org) Again, there was so much information, it was hard to absorb all of it. It was described in our information as a life-changing event and I believe it certainly could be if I practiced what I learned on a regular basis. I was the trip leader and there were 3 other women who attended; the remaining 26 attendees were students (included 4 young men). The students who chose to attend were 26 outstanding young people who were not the complainers and trouble makers so it was a completely relaxing and wonderful trip.
On the way to the village we visited an ancient historic monument, Mamallapuram (I believe it is these buildings that are a World Heritage site). Mamallapuram includes a 1,200-year-old temple, ancient sculptures and an ancient Hindu temple. Impressive! It is located near the ocean so I got to stand and watch the waves and think of Southern California.
In the village, we visited the recreated 19th century houses from four southern states of India. Years ago, an American woman married an Indian man and they were interested in creating a culture center for South India, so the houses were chosen from different places, torn down and reconstructed on this site. The houses contain examples of how the families lived. While we were there, school children and university students were visiting to study some of their heritage. There were also visitors from the Amsterdam cruise ship. Great place!
And we were served wonderful vegetarian meals. The first night, we sat on the floor, and were served the food on a banana leaf and ate with our fingers. Each meal was different, and the main course was always rice, and prepared in many different ways. Yum!
I spent some time shopping for clothes. Today I am wearing one of the white cotton blouses and a pair of shoes that I bought at a bazaar. I also went to a very modern shopping center where everything is available.
On the last day, I went to the Theosophical Society and Kapaleeshwara Temple which are within the city of Chennai. Both were interesting places.
Yesterday it was back to work for a half day -- it was a no class day for the students. Today it's a full day of work and we are sailing toward Penang, Malaysia. Tonight begins our mandatory pre-port meetings because we arrive in Penang on Wednesday -- a very short time at sea this time.
I tried to sign on my blog all day yesterday and was not able to sign in so I'll see if I can publish this. Internet access is still challenging.
till later . . .

Mauritius

March 9 @ 8:00 am

This is my second try to publish.

Yes, I was in the tropical island of Mauritius March 1 - 4th; I just haven't been able to sign into my blog. The Indian Ocean is not a good place to be accessing the Internet.

Yesterday is a 'no class' day and the students organized the Sea Olympics. Personally, I had a half-day off, so I slept in. We are sailing toward India, will cross the equator tonight, and will arrive in Chennai, India Tuesday morning ~ 8:00 am. We've had almost a week at sea between ports and it is going very quickly.

I had mixed experiences in Mauritius. The Blue Safari that I looked forward to with high expectations fell short. We did get in a submarine-like cabin and descended to the bottom. The coral was mostly gray and uninteresting and there were not many colorful fish. We only stayed a short time (which was o.k. because there was nothing much to see), but it was quite different than the glowing description. My second trip was for the Multi-Cultural Evening which also fell short of the described trip. We had a nice dinner and saw professional dancers perform Indian, Chinese, Oriental and Creole dances. The local Mauritians have a dance called Sega which the dancers left to the last which we enjoyed. We were supposed to visit an old sugar mill, a spice garden, and a rum distillery which we didn't do. The last trip that I did was Mauritian Fine Arts, which was not as advertised, but turned out to be my favorite. We visited the School of Design, where we saw some of the student projects; visited the Mauritius Glass Gallery, which has a non-profit associated with it that gives some of the profits to the poor; and then went to the Fine Arts section of Mahatma Gandhi Institute where we met one of the professors. He was an amazing source of information and had written a book which I (and several others) bought. So talking with him about art history and the history of art in Mauritius was the highlight for me. When I asked about art in the schools, he said they are re-instituting art programs at earlier ages in the grammar and high schools because they had learned that it was advantageous on many levels! He said they had experimented with cutting out art programs, but are now putting them back in. Perhaps we can learn from the Mauritians!

Mauritius is a beautiful island with great beaches; it is the European "Hawaii." Many of the students rented "villas" while we were there to get off the ship for awhile (and some to drink as much as they wanted.) They had some unfortunate situations; one of the boys in my extended family got robbed and there were stories of others who were the victims of pick-pockets, etc. One girl got hit by a bus while on a bicycle and got only scraps and bruises (she was lucky); the traffic was crazy!

If it weren't so far away, I would consider going back, but I don't think my schedule will include Mauritius in the foreseeable future. The biggest surprise for me was the large East Indian population. Almost all the markets (craft, clothes, food) were East Indian. They are called a 'rainbow nation' because of the many nationalities, and we were told they all get along well.

We were fortunate to witness a pilgrimage of Hindi people who were celebrating Shiva. Many, many of them walked very long distances and carried very elaborate decorations to honor Shiva. Some of the students were able to go to the gathering place, which was a Sacred Lake. They were treated with honor and had a great experience.

I'll sign off for now; I don't know when I'll be able to access the blog -- perhaps in India.

till later. . .