Fish guts and nude butts

Greeting earthlings,
Last we spoke I was rushing through the happenings of Cochin, India in a last minute effort to complete my India blogs before arriving in Africa. Well, as usual, I succeeded. Thanks to hard work and determination I conquered that task and captured all of my memories into one brief blog. Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.
Since then I got back on the ship and sailed down approximately 40 degrees of latitude to a small island named Mauritius.
What’s that? You are wondering what else I did in between? Well funny you should ask, because I was just thinking to myself “Yo Jordan, you are awesome” and then I was thinking “you should probably write more about life on the ship.”
We got back onboard on March 16th around 6pm. I passed out that night by 9, that’s how tired countries make me. The next day I had my Sacred Places midterm. Being that I myself am pretty sacred, I think I nailed it. The next day I had a bye (only one class) but on the 19th, a Friday, I had a paper due for my History of the Modern World class. It was on a book called Godaan (the Gift of a Cow). Decent book, tough prompt, results pending. Froday night we started planning the seders and had a good shabbos. Then, low and behold, came the twentieth. The 20th is a sacred day because it is the day that the MV explorer passed the equator (Nope, that is not true, we passed it on the 19th, but because of a conflict in scheduling it was easier to celebrate the accomplishment a day later). The day is called Neptune day. On this holy day the crew wakes us  up at 7am by banging pots and pans in the hallways. We proceed to the top deck pool area for a nice ceremony in which Mark White (the Academic Dean), Loren Crabtree (the executive dean), and Cindy (Dean of students), get dressed up in some interesting garb and recite some words that I didn’t really listen to. After they were through some people shaved their heads (not I, my lovely Jew fro is flowing like Craig David). Others, obviously me, got fish guts poured on them, jumped in the pool to clean it off, and then kissed a fish to replace the hair cut. I didn’t get good pictures so I did it a second time too. Let’s just say I may have scarred that fish with my second kiss (it’s lucky that it didn’t have to be alive to experience it). The rest of the day was full of relaxation and studying.  Sunday the 21st came and I had my final Mid-Term, this one in the core course, Global Studies. It was tough but fine. On Monday I chilled, went to class, and did some final preparations for that lovely country. Mauritius.
8am the beeping of my alarm sounded. I rubbed by eyes, stretched my arms, and smelled the great smells of Africa. Weirdly it smelt exactly like my room, hmm idk. After eating some breakfast and hearing some diplomat, we got off the ship by 9 and headed to Grand Bay. In the cab ride over, there was mucho drama. First the company that we had rented a catamaran from said their boat was broken and the replacement could fit only 11 not 12, then  they said the coast guard wasn’t letting boats out, then I was just in pain because I cut my foot open (as usual) while walking to the cab. Luckily, by the time we made it to our Villa everything worked itself out.
The weather cleared up and they agreed to take us out on their more expensive boat for a sunset cruise. Since it was only like 11 we had some time to play on the beach. We got some Pizza for lunch (score!) and relaxed. We played catch, went on a banana boat, turned a boat into our personal diving board, may or may not have skinny dipped (the world will never know). Sooner than we expected it was already 5 and we were ready for our catamaran. We went out for a couple of hours, had some good dinner, drank a few beers, and saw the gorgeous sunset over a mountain that I swear was Pride Rock (I will bet a lot of money that pride rock was inspired by this mountain). At one point we, again jumped into the water and the temp at this point was absolutely perfect. As the cruise concluded we went back to our Villa and passed out. BUT not before we went into town and got Pizza again.
The next morning we woke up by 8 (Tahlor woke me up at 6 because he couldn’t sleep and was bored) and we headed back to the beach. Mauritius has a lot of French influence (in addition to Indian) so we had good Crepes for breakfast (obviously, sup G, they were too cultured for me so I just had waffles and cereal). We laid out on the beach for another hour or so and then headed back to Port Louis.
The city of Port Louis was awesome. It reminded me a lot of the Baltimore Inner Harbor (less seagulls, more awesomeness). We got lunch there and walked around the mall area but at 3 Tahlor and Pierce had dock time (had to be on ship early b/c they got in trouble for being late) and so I was alone.
Being alone I decided to walk into some dark alley. I got beaten up, no big deal. Is what I would have said if it were true, but it’s not so I won’t. I actually decided to hop on an SAS trip to the SOS Children’s Village of Beau Basin. SOS (save our souls) has set up over 400 Children’s villages around the world. This one is for children who have been taken from their parents by the gov.t because of abuse. We heard some of their terrible stories, but were asked not to pry them for more. The village is amazing; 100 kids live there in houses of 8 with one adoptive mother. We played ball with them; they taught me their version of volleyball, I taught them a game called TAPs. At one point they took may camera and snapped some awesome pictures. They were so fun and so beautiful, it was great to get to smile with them and see what its like when you give a child a chance to thrive. I loved it.
We got to stay there till 6:30 (onship time was 6 but b/c of an accident it took us an hour to get there, so they let us stay out late) and when we got back on we had breakfast for dinner (wow!). Since then I’ve been sleeping, watching movies, and going to class. Now that you know all about my life, tell me about yours. Jdsoffer@semesteratsea.net EMAIL ME!!!!
Until next time, stay classy San Diego.

Cricket and Synagogue

Some of you may be wondering, why has Jordan waited so long to continue documenting his voyages from India. Well, as strange as this may sound, school has started to get busy. It’s Midterms time and I don’t have too much time to waste on any of you (except my mommy of course). I know yall missed me. Sometimes I miss me too. So where was I? Oh right, I slept more sitting on a chair than lying. We start driving back to Delhi to catch our flight. We got to Delhi by 11 and went straight to the Akshardham.
The Akshardham is a huge temple that looks like it could have been built in the 16c. The difference is that it was built in 2000. They spent hundreds of millions of dollars constructing it and truly did an amazing job. It is not, for some reason or another, not become a huge tourist attraction, but it is, according to the Guinness book of world records, the largest Hindu temple in the world. Supposedly there is an amazing boat ride around the complex, unfortunately our fake tour guide failed to explain that to us. No cameras are allowed in so I couldn’t snap any photo’s, but I’d recommend looking it up online—it’s a heck of a sight.
From there the tour guide took us to Humayun’s Tomb. We weren’t supposed to go to this sight, but I asked because I had seen so many pictures and it looked so cool. It didn’t let me down, and it was probably my fav. sight in India. The first Mugul emperor, Barbar, is buried in a modest structure on the grounds and his son, Humayun, is buried in a massive building. It is red sand stone and incorporates many of the same features of the Taj. The inside is much more impressive than the taj, and the outside is not as clean/ perfect so it really gives you a sense of how old it is. The entire complex is massive and is filled with countless tombs for anyone from Humayun’s servants to his wives to the architects and engineers who built his tomb.
We will fast forward through lunch and a quick trip to the market because it was relatively uneventful. I bring you now to the airport as we prepare to fly from Delhi to Hyderabad to stay at my friend Neha’s grandmother. We get to the airport 6 hours before our flight because of confusion with the tour company. The airport is gorgeous so this is no big deal. We shop, eat pizza hut, load pictures and have a merry time. 5 hours pass and it is time to board the flight. We all meet by the gate. Wait, where are Cameron and Amira? Looks like the 2 of them are missing. “Final boarding for the Kingfisher flight to Hyderbad” sounds, still no sight of them. They call them over the loudspeaker, still no response. At this point we are nervous about there whereabouts; I think Pakistani ninjas have kidnapped them, but that doesn’t seem to be a common concern. Eventually, when the second call over the loudspeaker yields no response the airport security runs through the terminal searching frantically for them. They were out to dinner and had lost track of time. I kid you not. Not even a little. Seriously, I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. Eventually we all make it on to the flight (barely) and arrive in Hyderabad where we are greeted by Neha and her grandparents. It’s already 11 pm so we go to her apartment, get settled in her guest house, get a little henna tattoo and get ready for one of the greatest days of our lives.
We woke up and by 7 am were on our way. Our first stop was the Birla Mandir. Birla Mandir is a common name for a Hindu Temple and various ones can be found throughout India. This one was gorgeous marble, and is known as one of the prettiest ones in the whole country. Unfortunately, like at some other modern temples, cameras are not allowed. The temple is built into a mountain and has views of the entire city. We went into the central prayer hall and a priest greeted us and taught us some of their rituals. Though we didn’t fully participate it was interesting to observe Neha and her grandmother who often attend this temple.
After we were through we continued to a traditional Indian restaurants for Dosa’s. Even as I grew tired of Indian food this was on that I remained fond of. It is like a crepe’ with onions, potatoes and peas or whatever you really want (I just got onions). You dip it in some diff. hot sauces and enjoy. People say the Masala Dosa is the best kind, I just got the simple one and mine was better. Trust me, I’m a doctor.
From there we continued to the Bengle shop but stopped along the way to see a Buddha statue located in the middle of the water. Sprouting like the statue of liberty this statue symbolized the serenity and peace of mind that Buddhists develop. Though I was thoroughly enjoying my time at the bengle shop I explored a bit with the tour guide to kill some time. First we saw the charminar. Char means four and minar means minarets in Arabic. The charminar was built to pray for the end of the black plague and is right next to the Mecca Masjid, the largest mosque in Hyderabad.
Since I was traveling with a number of girls (I do not believe they deserve to be called women) the half hour of touring was not enough, and they still had plenty more bengles to buy. I got a somossa (not a mimosa) which is some food that was pretty good, yet still had 30 minutes to spare. Obviously, there was only one thing left to do: find some children and have them teach me to play cricket. So, I found two nice young kids, Age?  About 7 or 8 so I yelled to the cabby yo home smell ya later. They were adorable and, using my water bottle as a bat, broken bengles as bases, and some pebbles as the ball we played ball for a good half hour. Finally the girls were close to done and we were able finally get outta there.
From there we went to my friend Neha’s grandmothers (Nani-g) women’s college. Nani-g runs four charitable organizations but this is her fav. one. She donates $7,000 a month to this charity alone. Upon arrival we ate a quick meal, briefly toured the campus, and then, to our surprise, spoke to all of the students. There were 600 women aged 18-20. Talk about surrounded by water without a drop to drink. All of the girls are Indian former street kids or orphans who are now receiving a free JC education. We spoke to them about the value of education and the promise that it provides. She had a big sign made and it was ridiculously formal. It was really nice and beautiful. Not gonna lie, a little uncomfortable being one of two guys in the room of 600+ people, but I got over that…quickly.
We stayed at the college for a couple of hours and we didn’t leave until 5 or 6 pm. By that time I really only had two goals remaining: get my flag and get a cricket jersey. Well, once again the girls wanted to go shopping. Luckily, however, this time there was a nearby market that wasn’t so boring. As the girls shopped for their Indian clothing I got some cools crafts and my cricket jersey at a little market. Though I didn’t find a flag, later on that night Nani-g’s helper brought me a perfect one.
After dinner we were all pretty much exhausted so we just threw on some TV and passed out. A great day in Hyderabad had come to a close, and it was time to go to Cochin (Karala).
We got up at 4 and headed to the airport to catch our 7 am flight. It was nice because we got into Cochin by 10 and I was back at the ship by 11. As I was getting on my friend Danny was getting off and heading to “Jew Town.” Perfect. I through my stuff down and went with him and his friend Peyton. We started by going out to lunch and then headed to Jew town. Cochin was the center of Indian Jewry. Cochin Jews now make up 1% of Israel’s population and 7 (people not percentage) of Cochin’s. What’s left are a few street signs, one book store, one ridiculously overpriced Judaica store (Sarah’s) and a bunch of street vendors. The shul is still in existence but didn’t open until 3 so we went out and toured Cochin’s back alleys before coming back. The shul was small but beautiful. Cameras weren’t allowed so I was only able to snap some pictures on my camera. It was sphardic style; it had a balcony for women and the bimah in the center. It is now only a museum, but when they have a minyan (e.g. some high holidays/ Israelis bringing children for Bar-Mitzvah’s) they’ll reopen it. It was the perfect way to end India.
Well, we headed back to the ship and called it a country. And what a country it was. So unique yetso confused. Such poverty living aside such richness. Hindus and Muslims living peacefully side by side; Hindus and Muslims at each other’s throats. In India everything changes depending on the way you look at it. There are no truths, only vantage points.
Sorry if the end of this blog seems a bit rushed…midterms; you know how it is….PS-I’ll be in Mauritius in 7 hours…Peace out cub scouts

Taj Ball

4:45 came sooner than expected and low and behold I was on my way to Agra. For those of you who know me best (Mommy, Daddy, and Heath Ledger may he rest in peace) know that I had two things I really wanted to see this trip (no G, not those): A Japanese baseball game and the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately the baseball game was impossible because we went in the winter (I got over that pretty quickly), but luckily I got to see the Taj. It was as impressive as I imagined, but I digress.
On the way down we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri. Sikri, as I have decided to nickname it, was built by Akbar, my favorite Mugal leader. He was #3, Grandfather of Shah Jahan, son of Humayun…talk about a strong family. Akbar was not particularly religious man so his decision to have 3 wives from 3 different faiths did not come as surprising. Neither did his decision to move the capitol to Sikri (albeit for 16 years) to make it more central and welcoming. The design of the would be capitol has stayed intact mostly because it is in such an isolated location (about 60 km from the Taj). It has a huge mosque, a small church, and even a small Hindu temple. It is tough to describe exactly why these ruins stand apart from all of the other ones, but I think it was because their simple design made imagining Akbar’s lifestyle very possible. One could easily imagine him sitting on his throne watching the entirety of his city.
From Sikri we went to lunch, a feat I was beginning to dread. Seriously how many combinations  of spicy rice can a kid take. Funny side note, we ran into 4 different groups traveling independently (e.g. not  on an SAS trip) at the same restaurant. Talk about kick back (the tour companies get a percentage of our bill for taking us there).
I don’t want to write anything else about food because we then went to the Taj MaFRIKNhal. Kind of odd how it’s spelt that way, but whatever. It was awesome. Once you make your way past the scores of vendors offering you anything from weed to Ganesh you finally get to wait on the 45 minute line to get in. BUT once you get in you finally get to see some entrance structure that you’ve never seen before. BUT once you walk through that structure you get to see hundreds of people taking tons of pictures, BUT once you make it past them, then you see it. The Taj. Seriously it manages to be even more beautiful in person.
It was the complete turning point of my trip. None of the filth seemed to matter as I stared mesmerizingly at this grand building. WOW. To think that a man built this structure out of love for his wife. He built it in white to symbolize her loves purity, and had planned a symmetrical black dome across the river to symbolize the depression he felt after she died. Such a love was unheard of in those days. Too bad his son didn’t feel that love, and instead imprisoned his dad, stopped the building of the black dome, and claimed that he was the new king. Talk about a rebellious stage. 
This inside of the Taj Mahal was decent, nothing super, but it did have some crazy ceramic work that was translucent and shimmered in the sun. Later on that day we went to a ceramics factory where they, to this day, make comparable art but it was so expensive I felt uncomfortable being there (I may look at something the wrong way and break it). We had to rush at the end of our visit because it was 5:30 and the Agra fort, our last stop, closed at 6. Some people got upset but we had 2 hours at the Taj which is far beyond what you need (some SAS trips went for a half hour).
As we left we again had to walk through the vendors and I saw a gift that I needed, but I had a price in mind and I wasn’t going above it. Finally I got him down to it but we had hoped in our van and the driver wasn’t waiting for me to get the cash out. The man jumped onto the side of the van, held on with one hand tossed me the souvenir with the other then continued to take my cash and jump off the van which, at this point, had already begun to go full speed. Small aside—I accidentally left the gift in the hotel room that night (I bought the same one again because I liked it so much—don’t worry).
So to the fort. The Agra Fort was similar to Fatephur Sikri, and also impressive, but when you come from the Taj you become a little jaded. It pales in comparison. It’s hard to impress when you’ve just seen something amazing. Think about seeing my brothers after you look at me. Sure they are cute, but man o man, I am just impressive. They let us stay there late after closing so we got to watch the sunset, unfortunately our view of the Taj was obscured so we didn’t get to fully see that gorgeous site.
After a brief stop at a shop for my friend Shanon to buy a camera (hers fell and broke at Sikri, we went back to the hotel, had dinner and used the gym. Seriously time flies because by the time all was said and done it was already 12and we had to get up at 4:30 again the next day to head back to Delhi.
Fun fact: I slept more in a sitting position than on a bed throughout this trip…

Delhi Sandwich

Riddle me this batmen,
Does it not feel that time is flying by? Is the glass half full (I still have half the trip left) or half empty (half the trip is already over)? The answer: Neither. You see, the glass is fully full. It may be half full of water and half empty of water, but even the waterless side is full of something (air). Nothing can ever be empty, merely full of something that takes us longer to realize. Damn, I did become inspirational in India. AND I learned how to plagiarize and call some Hindu’s work my own. So now, India: Created in 1947, the land of milk (cows) and honeys (Latika).
India seems to be a confused country; rich in culture and history, but struggling in terms of fiscal equality and social parity. Upon disembarking from this ship this dichotomy (sup Dad?) of richness and poverty is readily apparent. The gaps are inconceivably high. But, as you will all come to learn as you read the inspirational words that we call “Jordan’s blog” India runs much deeper than first impressions.
Upon disembarking from the ship all high hopes I had for India immediately disintegrated (don’t worry, this story has a happy ending). I saw a gross country; it smelled worse than my feet after I wear my Naot, people were peeing everywhere (Lee, they didn’t have Tea bottles), and my shorts got do dirty even I felt uncomfortable. We had to walk about a mile in the scorching Indian heat to catch a cab, and even then all we found was an auto rickshaw. We went to a mall in Chennai called the Spencer Plaza. It is one of the largest malls in India, dates back to colonial times (though it was rebuilt in 1983 because of a fire) and is a staple of Chennai (Madras).  We walked around a little, ate at a delicious India restaurant (we will discuss food in greater detail in a bit), and headed back to the ship so I could meet my group and head to Delhi.
Afer a 45 minute delay (someone forgot something on the ship and had to run the 1 mile to and from the ship) we nervously set out for the airport and with no further problems boarded the plane and headed to Delhi. We got in at like 10pm and we had to get up early the next day so we just went straight to bed (e.g. we had wireless so I went on skype/ aim until 1am). We woke up at 7 and were off to see Delhi.
Delhi, split into New and Old Delhi, is an interesting city. It is, and for a long time has been, the capitol of India. The day started the same way most days do…a trip to Mosque. Jama Masjid is one of Asia’s largest mosques. From the top pillars one can see a 360 degree view of Delhi. The open yard which holds up to 20,000 people gives it a warm and welcoming feel, but the beggars and pigeons dampen that feel. India’s history was starting to come alive, but a brief half hour rickshaw ride around the town of Chawri Bazaar snapped me back to reality and reminded me that I still did not like this smelly, dirty country.
This grossness, however, was not at all apparent at our next stop: Raj Ghat. Rajghat (you chose which spelling you prefer) is the burial place of one Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gangdhi was a baller; if only more people would follow his message of satyagraha, ruthless nonviolence, the world would be a undeniably better place.  The grounds were gorgeous covered in trees and greenery that were a welcome hiatus from the dirt and filth. People prayed at the burial site and it had the feel of remarkably sacred space.
Before lunch we made a quick stop at the India Gate. Truthfully this site was remarkably unremarkable, but allow me to remark a few brief remarks. Our professor always claims that the more you know them roe interesting a place will be; this place proved that sentiment. Knowing the intentional axial grid, understanding the implications of a fully rounded arch, and having studied that history of its place as British built WWI memorial made the visit extraordinarily memorable.
On the way to lunch our tour guide pointed out the red fort, a great symbol in Indian history, the place where independence was declared, but we didn’t go in because he didn’t find it interesting (clearly he never studied it). Lunch was decent, but even by day 2 spicy rice was starting to get old. Luckily, I had the greatest dessert ever. No one remembers the name, but if you are reading this and you know it get back to me immediately. It was some donut-hole shaped ball with a dark outside that looked almost like a plum. The inside was golden and tasted like nuts, sugar and honey, and it was placed on top of a scoop  of vanilla ice cream. Yummy.
 We continued on a drive past Rashtrapati Bhawan, the hub of government buildings. It was interesting because they were designed and built by British architects and engineers in the 20th c., but they were unimpressive. I was expecting something much grander from what the British called their Jewel.
It was already 5 o’clock and we headed to a market but I wanted o leave the group to go to Chabad for Shabbat. Unfortunately no Rickshaw or taxi would take me to it and it would be an hour trip back to my hotel so I had to give up on the plan. Instead I stayed in the market until around 8, went back to the hotel showered and got ready, had dinner, and….didn’t go out because I was too tired. Either way it was already 10ish and all bars in Delhi close by 12 due to security. Instead I went online and spoke to my wonderful siblings.
The next morning my wakeup call came at 4:30 and by 4:45 we were on our way to Agra.

Guns and Roses

8am arrived quickly and we were off to the Cu Chi tunnels. Cu Chi was a central strategic point in the war. Due to its close proximity to Saigon, and its heavily communist population the Americans viewed Cu Chi as a key city. In response the inhabitants built tunnels. These were crawling tunnels, built so pettily that an American soldier dressed in full garb would be unable to penetrate them. Even I, smaller than the average solider in stature and in only shorts and a t-shirt, had a difficult time entering them. At the start of our time there we saw a brief film in which the Americans were referred to as “little devils” and “ruthless murderers shooting everything in sight.” Again, this shows two things; 1) the censorship in a one party country, and 2) the hardship that American weaponry and carelessness caused on this civilization. As we crawled through the tunnels and walked in the surrounding areas we learned that 10,000 people lived in bunkers placed sporadically throughout the tunnels. Such a hard life is unimaginable, but in guerilla warfare it is necessary. I shot my first gun, an AK 47, and it grounded me a bit. I shot it at the end of February, in shorts and a t, with ear clogs on; the soliders had to shoot mid summer, in full gear, with nothing protecting their ears. The difficulties it caused these solidiers suddenly became vivid. While the experience itself was amazing, the experience transcended time and was extraordinarily frightening in that regard.
As we left we discussed all this at a local restaurant, where I finally switched from Pho to Veggie fried rice. Once we were done, after a brief scare where the car would not start, we continued on to the Mekong delta.
Note: This part of the blog will be long; however, it will also be describing some of the greatest hours of my life.
We arrived at the delta and were greeted by a second tour guide whose specialty was the Mekong. We went on a small boat from mainland, across the delta, to Unicorn Island. Once we got off the ship and made our way through the swarm of harassing shop keepers, the lady opened a mystery wooden box. Suddenly, out flew hundreds of bees. They all flocked to the rows of flowers near by which, for the sake of this blogs title, we shall call roses. Luckily they were harmless, and she literally scraped the side of the box and we ate their amazing honey. We mixed the honey with tea, and ate some plain—it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. They also gave us different candies made of honey; one was nuts honey and something else and tasted remarkably like Mom’s Purim candy (PS-please save me some of that and some hamantashen). As we were eating, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a snake in a cage. Being the man that I am, I asked to hold it. Turns out you can!! I felt like I was back at the fun place at a 10 year old birthday party freaking out. I manned up and did it. I’m a man, and I’m not even 40.
After seeing my life flash before my eyes, we continued down a narrow walk way to a table with like 10 different fresh fruits. These included, but were not limited to, star fruit, dragon fruit, papaya, and others that I can’t remember their names. They were so delicious, and as we ate them we were entertained by local traditional music. Can’t say the music was on par with counting crows, but it was definitely good. We gave them tips, and they let us climb the trees to pick the fruits: apparently I don’t go apple picking enough, because I stunk and got like 10 Star Fruit that were all premature.
With a full, very full stomach, we went through some shrubbery into a little canoe.  Only 4 people fit in these little boats that we rowed down a rather remote section of the delta. We went on this for about a half hour, through some of the most tropical landscape one can imagine. Truly a paradise. As we got off the boat we went to the coconut factory. Unfortunately, we got there a bit late so we could not make our own, but we had free samples, tasted the uncooked mix, and let me tell you, it was as delicious as I am.
From there we hoped on a horse and carriage. The driver said something to Hung, our amazing guide that made Hung crack up. Apparently he said, “Sorry if I drive this horse a little crazy, I’ve had too much banana wine.” Don’t be fooled by the name—banana wine is not wine at all, more like tequila. Luckily we arrived to our next destination safely.
This is where the story gets amazing. As we were walking down the road with many houses we saw the Budhist pagoda. Though it wasn’t on our itinerary I asked to enter, and the guide complied. As we walked in, the Monk had just gotten home. Not only did he show us around, but he sat us down, had tea with us, and told us all about himself and his temple. He had become a monk 15 years ago after he had started a family. He was one of only two monks in the delta and was very passionate. His message was about peace and serenity. You could tell he believed every word that he spoke. As I left he gave me a monk, and told my translator that he sees me being a monk one day. He also pulled my hair and said I would have to cut that off first. HA. These locks are turning into braids soon enough.
From there we headed back to the boat for another quick trip on the larger boat while watching the sunset. Then we got back in the van and headed to our hotel which was 2 hours away (closer to where we would be going in the morning). So, we were on our way…or so we thought. About 10 minutes into the drive the car broke down. Remember how it wouldn’t start before? Turns out that WAS a big deal. We got stranded in real rural Vietnam for over an hour.  Scary? Nothing compared to what would come next.
Eventually we got into a new taxi and we were back on our way. Until we got stuck in traffic. Weird part was that it was 11pm still in rural Vietnam. Turns out this wasn’t traffic at all, just a corrupt cop, stopping cars and making them pay to advance. So, our tour guide took us out of the car, we walked through with our heads down, not knowing where we were. We hoped on a ferry, headed to the other side of the water and got into yet another taxi. The sigh of relief I let out upon entering our hotel must have been louder than, well, use your imagination.
To cool off we went out for ice cream, and called it a night because tomorrow’s wake up was at 6am. When we woke up we headed on another smallish boat to what is called the floating market. This is the place where the masses of Vietnamese who live on boats go to get there food. It was incredible. Boats would just come up, hop on another boat and purchase whatever they need. We got some pineapple and it was delicious. Fun fact: 48% of the world lives on less than $2 a day. This is also true in Vietnam. But it doesn’t affect them, they are so happy and content with their lives. While we should always try and give them choices, we need not necessarily judge their life style.
After the market we headed back to Saigon and said goodbye to our main man Hung. Our time in Vietnam was basically over, but it was well spent. BUT WAIT, there’s more. We looked in our pockets and noticed 1,000 dong. Not enough to change back to dollars, but just enough to go to a water park! So we hoped back in and headed to Dem Sen water park. Once we got there it looked amazing. Well, almos all of it looked amazing. All except the sign that read “The park is closed on Tuesday March 2nd”. Darn. Well, we still had our 1,000 so we headed back to our beloved market. What could my $5 by me you ask. How about a pair of fake shorts, the notebook and up? Heck yes! O right, and also a glass of watermelon juice, and a glass of mango strawberry.
We headed back to the boat and called it a country. WOW. The country emerged from such devastation with such vitality. It still has a definite ways to climb, but it is certainly headed in the right direction. Part of me wonder where this country would be had the war never happened. Would it be a prosperous power house or a crippled communist state? Is it possible that in a backwards kind of way the way helped the people? No one will ever know the answers to these questions, but pondering them is interesting in itself.
Who would think that Vietnam could be so beautiful? As we head to India and wrap up Eastern Asia my time has been amazing. I realized on Friday night that I had spent the past 3 Friday nights in Japan, China and Vietnam. Now I have 8 days on the ship to soak it all in and make sure that the messages that I learned, and the feelings that I felt are not merely memories, but are integrals elements of my being. It sounds cliché but on a trip like this, the worst possible scenario is one where the magic is lost. Hope you guys enjoyed, stay tuned for some stories from the Taj…

Mani Pedi? More like Manly Pedi!

At 5:45 we all woke, got dressed, had some breakfast, and headed to the train station to catch what we thought was a 6:55 train. Though our ticket said 6:30, the front desk demanded that it was a misprint. They were wrong. We missed the train, and were stranded at the train station with no food, money, or clothing for the rest of Vietnam. OR, we may have decided to take a Taxi to Mui Ne. It is extremely inexpensive and significantly cheaper than one might imagine. Rather than sleeping in the car ride, an idea that one may refer to as logical, we decided to blast music, play our newly purchased DVD’s, and stay up all 4 hours. Good idea? Probably not, but it sure was fun.
Once we got to Mui Ne we headed o lunch at a place called do Ira. We do I tell you the name, you may ask. Well, because I ended up eating about 4 meals there, and together they totaled $8.  After lunch, aka Pho, we rented motorbikes. Before I go any further let me answer my mothers questions: 1) Yes, this is stupid and unsafe, and 2) yes, we do now know why it is not allowed. My friend Srgan (Pronounced Sir Jon, he is Bosnian) got one first and was able to pick it up with ease. I go on second and felt comfortable pretty quickly. Tahlor got on third and immediately fell down. Not a big deal, he got back up and tried again. This time he went full speed into the back of my bike. He broke his bikes rearview mirror, and scratched the side of mine. I remained unscathed while he cut up his foot pretty badly. Funny part is that all that damaged cost him $10. I love this country.
Until 5pm we just hung out by the pool and laid out on the beach, but at 5 we headed to the sand dunes to watch the sunset. We took a Jeep there (we had a driver, don’t worry) and climbed up to see one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. From the top it seemed like you were in the middle of a dessert, but if you turned around you saw gorgeous trees growing in a mini forest, and if you continued to turn you saw the ocean. Three biomes living adjacent to each other. Though I had no synagogue nearby to celebrate Purim in the traditional way, this truly was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. The night ended early, as one would predict, but the day was so full and great that it felt like it could not be anymore complete.
The next morning we woke up to get our free breakfast. Imagine an all you can eat buffet and double it—awesomeness. From there we went straight to the beach, considered parasailing, but in the end just relaxed a little. Then it was time for one of the most epic decision of my life: I was going to get a manicure.  Vietnam is known for Mani-Pedi’s, so I figured I would give it a try; make Lee proud. To be honest, I was pretty excited; however, after they completed just one hand I hated it so much I just paid and left. Talk about disappointing. To get over it I watched the Notebook and ate a large tub of ice cream.
Well, the time had come to head back to Saigon, so we went to the tourist agency who had rented us the motorbikes and asked for a taxi. We got more than that. He asked us what we were doing for the rest of our time in Nam, and then offered to be our tour guide, provide a driver and book all of our plans. This is exactly what we had been looking for, so we quickly agreed. Turned out to be the greatest deal since the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth.

Goooooood morning Vietnam!!

Not only a great way to greet people, but also a fantastic movie. I would say head to blockbuster to rent a copy, but even with my limited internet and complete lack of contact with the civilized world I have managed to remain updated on the lowly video rental company’s unfortunate miseries. Luckily, however, I cannot even remotely relate to these miseries: Vietnam was awesome.
Our trip to Vietnam began in Hanoi. It was September 2nd and Ho Chi Minh had just delivered a speech declaring independence. Oops that wasn’t me; wrong American trip, I apologize.
My trip, contrarily, began in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)(formerly known as Saigon) on February 26th. Upon debarking from the ship we were cordially greeted by about 500 men standing under 5 feet tall, inviting us to share a motorbike with them for the scenic trip to downtown. As tempting as it was, we respectfully declined. Instead, we opted to walk the 1km. Along the way we saw many great things: we saw an all you can eat/ all you can drink restraint for $5, exchanged money at a rate of 18,640 to 1, and entered the Rex hotel—the hotel where soldiers and reporters used to gather over drinks.
From the Rex we walked to our hotel, the Spring hotel, where we squeezed about 10 people into a two person room. We more needed it as storage and a place to shower than anything else, because we were taking the 6 am train the next morning. So, after we threw our bags down, took advantage of their free unlimited (yet censored) internet, we headed to lunch.
As usual, the eating scared me as I never know if there will be anything I can eat. Luckily, at my very first meal, I found a food that would revolutionize my life: Pho (pronounced fu as in fun). Though it is normally a meat dish they have recently begun to make it vegetarian. It was delicious, and, fun fact, I ate it 7 times in my 5 days in Vietnam.
For those of you who have remained updated on my blog you will recall that I went to the Hiroshima Peace Museum just a few weeks back. I was impressed with how unbiased the museum was and by how the central message was not anti-American but rather anti nuclear war. This museum could not have been more different. In fact, until recently it was known as the museum of American war crimes. One must bear in mind that in a one party country the museum tells the story the way the dictator would like it to be told. Even though I knew of this extreme slant coming in, it was very  difficult to see many of the images and hear all of the stories. Further proof that war is a disgusting solution, and should be only the last resort (and rules of war should not be considered oxymoronic). Along the way we also saw the reunification palace; the true Vietnamese symbol of what they call “the American war.”
From there we had to quickly change our emotions as we headed to the Ben Thanh Market. The market is like a gigantic shuk where you can by anything and everything. Some more illegal than others. We started of searching for suites; they custom makes suits for $60. These amazingly nice suits are $300 right outside the market. We decided to agree that we would only pay $50 each. Apparently that was too low, and we left suitless. I’m over it. Instead I spent $28 on DVD’s. I purchased every episode of Weeds and How I met Your Mother, as well as every cartoon Disney movie ever made. As we were walking away, celebrating our awesome purchase, I ran into Eric Cooper, my roommate next year.
Let me rewind…Cooper and I were supposed to hang out in Nam because he is studying in Singapore. Instead, we ended up only bumping into each other twice because my phone stopped working, and he didn’t check his email once (or answer texts I sent from my friend’s phone). Either way, it was wonderful to see him even only for a bit.
Side note, it was 95 degrees out. With that in mind, we all decided to shower at the hotel and head out to dinner. For dinner we went to restaurant that picks up orphans and street kids, trains them in English and hospitality, and prepares them to work in the restaurant business.  Not only where there stories amazing, but the food was actually very good.
The night ended with a beer at the bar at the Rex hotel, and a trip on the motorbike to another historic bar, Apollo. The day ended with the feeling that the war remained ingratiated into the countries essence; how far from the truth this will soon seem to be…